Researchers are using video games to monitor the brain waves of children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. The tests hope to prove that playing video or computer games will help children with concentration and focus. Lack of concentration in ADD children is a major cause of learning problems in the classroom.
ADD children can learn to adjust the activity in their brain that requires them to focus, when the results of biofeedback displays on a monitor screen. With proper training, these adjustments become automatic. Using video games with ADD children helps to train their brain to focus in order to receive the reward of winning the game. Researchers based this on tests given to pilots to increase attentiveness on long flights.
Parents of the ADD patients tested, reported improvements in their child’s ability to focus, and in their social skills. They also reported that they noticed improvements in overall classroom performance and an improvement in their grades.
Researchers believe that by playing video games, ADD children can increase their attention spans, while reducing their hyperactivity and their impulsiveness. They train their own brain waves to complete a game because it is self-rewarding. Given motivation to win a game, patients tried harder to concentrate on the rules of the game.
Not all types of video games will aid ADD children. Certain games, especially violent video games, can trigger impulsiveness, as a type of caught up in the frenzy response, which is unhealthy for any child.
Learning games that reward children with points throughout game play are best. Alphabet, word, and math games that require identification of letters, spelling of words, or solving simple math problems, helps them to pay attention, in order to win the game.
