Video games sometimes get a bad rep, but this new game developed by brain researchers is different. Apart from being a fun new way of learning to play the drums, the video game provides those who play it with real health benefits. Those who developed the game say that their musical rhythm game comes with a cognitive boost to short-term memory in seniors.
The researchers have the proof too - a new study published in the October 2022 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) journal. Let’s see what the research says.
In order to examine why and how a video game can improve memory, we must first understand the ins and outs of the research. The study involved 47 adults aged 60-79. The participants were divided into two groups: one playing a usual word-search game (control group) and the other playing Rhythmicity (the musical rhythm game developed by the researchers). All participants played the game assigned to them for 20 minutes, 5 days weekly for 8 weeks.
The game was developed in collaboration with the drummer Mickey Hart, formerly of the band The Grateful Dead. It uses visual clues to train participants to recreate a rhythm on a tablet. As the player progresses in the game at their own pace, the tempo, precision, and complexity increase.
The results were clear-cut: playing Rhythmicity had a cumulative positive impact on short-term memory. "As hypothesized, only the rhythm training group exhibited improved short-term memory on a face recognition task, thereby providing important evidence that musical rhythm training can benefit performance on a non-musical task," the researchers write in the paper.
Participants’ short-term memory was measured with electroencephalography (EEG) during a face recognition task. Rhythmicity players had an improved ability to identify faces. Moreover, the EEG recorded increased activity in a brain region involved in short-term memory, called the superior parietal lobule. Researchers believe that the memory boost occurs due to the specific way the game targets players’ visual perception and selective attention.
Related article: Fun and Free Games All Seniors Will Enjoy
Rhythmicity is not the team’s first foray into brain-boosting video games. The team’s debut was in 2013 with a game named NeuroRacer, capable of improving mental faculties like attention and working memory in seniors.
The research team has also developed the Body-Brain Trainer, a game that aims to improve blood pressure, attention, and balance in older adults. This game monitors the heart rate and adapts to the players' fitness levels. Last but not least, the team also made a game called Labyrinth that engages participants’ spatial recognition as a way of improving their long-term memory.
This entire group of games trains cognitive faculties that often decline with age. As we get older, we can use thinking games like these to maintain our cognitive sharpness.
H/T: Science Alert
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