I’m driving through a frozen world, where the roads are paved in ice. As I swerve left to avoid a miniature iceberg, a red fish flashes at the top of my screen. I’m supposed to tap all the red fish that pop up, but not the green fish or the blue. And I have to do this without crashing the car.
An unidentifiable, omnipresent game-meister says: “Doing one thing at a time is easy, but doing them both at the same time is where the magic happens!”
As I get better at the game, my brain is being trained to ignore distractions and stay focused — or, at least, that’s the hypothesis of the neuroscientists who designed it.
The brain networks that control multitasking overlap with networks that control working memory and attention span. So some scientists believe that by playing this game — Project Evo — you can improve a range of cognitive skills and, by extension, relieve a range of symptoms associated with cognitive disorders.
“We’ve been through eight or nine completed clinical trials, in all cognitive disorders: ADHD, autism, depression,” says Matt Omernick, executive creative director at Akili, the Northern California startup that’s developing the game.
Omernick worked at Lucas Arts for years, making Star Wars games, where players attack their enemies with light sabers. Now, he’s working on Project Evo. It’s a total switch in mission, from dreaming up best-sellers for the commercial market to designing games to treat mental health conditions.
by MindMake via MindMake Blog
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