University of Missouri researchers think they’ve found a way to “retrain” the brainwaves of autistic children using a video game.
The game is called Space Race, and uses brainpower to make rockets on a computer screen move forward. The goal is to improve focus and concentration using neurofeedback.
Neurofeedback is a way of observing how the brain works from moment to moment. While the children play the video games, they have sensors on their scalp, and their concentration and focus are rewarded by movements on the screen and special sounds.
If their attention fades, the rocket on the screen slows, sounds stop and the color changes until more attention is given to the image. When this happens, researchers watch another screen that monitors brainwave activity.
“We are trying to awaken their brains. Often children with autism disconnect and we want to use neurofeedback to teach them how it feels to pay attention and be more alert. We want to teach them to regulate their own brain function,” said Guy McCormack, chair of the occupational therapy and occupational science department in the MU School of Health Professions.
“The ultimate goal is to lay down new neural pathways and, hopefully, see changes in focus and attention span, social interaction, improved sleep, and appetite.”
Neurofeedback technology was designed by NASA for flight simulations.
McCormack said neurofeedback training helps with other neurological disorders such as traumatic brain injuries, strokes, seizures, depression, anxiety disorders, alcoholism and premenstrual syndrome.
The study is being conducted at the MU Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.