domingo, junio 04, 2006

Exercise Your Brain


Exercise is the key to good health, both for body and mind-and now there's finally a way to make mental exercise simple, fun, even competitive. Inspired by the work of prominent Japanese neuroscientist Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, Brain Age features activities designed to help stimulate your brain and give it the workout it needs like solving simple math problems, counting people going in and out of a house simultaneously, drawing pictures on the Nintendo DS touch screen, and reading classic literature out loud.

2 comentarios:

Anónimo dijo...

Buen punto, mira esto que me parece tambien interesante.

Mente sana en juego sano

in Training: How Old Is Your Brain? es el nombre del videojuego que lejos de hacerte enojar cuando pierdes te ayudará a ejercitar el cerebro y a mejorar tu rendimiento neurológico. Brain Training sigue la línea de Brain Age, otro videojuego que fortalece la capacidad mental, ambos disponibles en plataforma Nintendo DS.
Reto mental

Este juego, cuyo propósito es medir la agilidad de la mente por medio de problemas matemáticos, ejercicios de lectura y ascertijos de lógica, fue creado para Nintendo DS.

En tanto, el creador de tan excéntrico juego, el Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, inició sus esfuerzos al verse preocupado por las horas excesivas que pasan los jóvenes ante los videojuegos. Kawashima ha descubierto a través de este juego que se puede medir la "edad cerebral", un término un tanto científico que refleja de forma gráfica cuál es el nivel neurológico del consumidor.

Y es que cada vez que el jugador establece su "edad cerebral", Brain Training perfila una rutina diaria de ejercicios de cálculo espacial, tentativa o de memoria que ayuda a fortalecer la misma.

Así, el famoso juego no sólo se encarga de medir la agilidad mental sino que ayuda a que los jugadores sean más hábiles a la hora de resolver problemas aritméticos simples y recordar palabras.

Brain Training ha sido todo un éxito en Japón, donde ha vendido más de 1.8 millones de copias a jóvenes y adultos de todas las profesiones. Esta nueva alternativa en videojuegos estará disponible en EEUU próximamente.

Anónimo dijo...

You may see this too.

Heavy Video Game Use by Kids May slow Brain Development

Game industry disputes findings of Japanese study
August 2001

Ryuta Kawashima is a professor at Tohoku University in Japan who specializes in brain imaging. A story about the research by Tracy McVeigh appeared in The Observer reporting with the headline "Computer games stunt teen brains." According to McVeigh, Kawashima was in need of funding for his brain imaging research, so he decided to investigate the levels of brain activity in children playing video games hoping that his research would benefit game manufacturers. Kawashima presented the findings at the annual conference of the private learning program Kumon Educational UK. His findings are unlikely to win him any friends in the video game industry.

Kawashima made use of new techniques in computer imaging that can tell us which areas of the brain are being used in real time. Kawashima compared brain activity in children playing Nintendo games with brain activity in children doing an exercise called the Kraepelin test, which involves adding single-digit numbers continuously for 30 minutes. The Nintendo group was found to only be using parts of the brain associated with vision and movement, while the arithmetic group had activity throughout the left and right hemispheres of the frontal lobe - areas of the brain associated with learning, memory, emotion, and impulse control.

Is a task such as the Kraepelin test a fair comparison? I believe that it is more than fair. Adding single digit numbers is a very mundane task that does not sound like it would require much of the brain. If video games use even less of the brain than the simple task of adding single digit numbers, then imagine how much less of the brain that they use than more complex activities such as socially interacting with peers. Frontal lobe development is necessary for learning to control behavior, as well as for developing memory, emotion and learning.

Professor Kawashima is quoted by The Observer as saying "There is a problem we will have with a new generation of children - who play computer games - that we have never seen before. The implications are very serious for an increasingly violent society and these students will be doing more and more bad things if they are playing games and not doing other things like reading aloud or learning arithmetic." He appears convinced that children who play computer and video games excessively will not develop their frontal lobes and may be more prone to act more violently as they grow up. His research findings bolster earlier findings that violent video games contribute to violent behavior.

The software industry disagrees with Dr. Kawashima's interpretation of his findings. The European Leisure Software Publishers Association criticized the study as having a "very limited focus." They cite research finding that playing computer games can be as beneficial as taking part in physical sports. "For too long now, our industry has been the target of ill-informed criticism and scare-mongering," reported Roger Bennett. "We want to help those who weren't brought up on computer games to understand this exciting new medium and the part that it can play in a healthy balance of learning and leisure activities for all age groups."

The industry probably has a point. Several recent U.K. studies suggest that moderate video game use may be a positive experience, while excessive use may cause problems. Perhaps balance really is the key. Kawashima and his colleagues didn't study children watching television, for example. It may well be that even less of the brain is used during such a passive activity. Parents have been warned for years to set some limits on children's television viewing. The children most at risk for problems appear to be those who spend excessive time playing video games - especially violent video games. If parents keep violent games out of the hands of children, and if they set some limits on their children's daily video game play - encouraging other academic and social activities - then the worst of the documented problems associated with video games will be avoided

Reference: The Observer August 19, 2001