In what is believed to be the first real evidence to support what is
becoming a growing field of inquiry, the use of special computer games to
"train" their brains improved the ability of healthy children to pay
attention during scientific trials, researchers reported Sept. 26. Their
research has important implications for schools, which are charged with
educating an increasing number of students with attention disorders.
It's not clear just how much the games helped, other specialists
cautioned. But with booming interest in developing therapies for attention
problems, the research sheds light on how a normal youngster's brain pays
attention in the first place.
At issue is "executive attention," the ability to tune out distractions
and pay attention only to useful information.
The capacity develops between the ages of 3 and 7, said University of
Oregon psychologist Michael Posner, who has studied cognitive development
by measuring electrical signals from the brains of preschoolers and young
children.
There's great individual variation among healthy children and adults, and
problems with this particular attention-paying neural network might be one
of many factors involved in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or
ADHD.
Posner and colleagues at Cornell University's Weill Medical College
wondered if it's possible to speed this network's normal development.
They adapted computer exercises used to train monkeys for space travel
into games for 4- and 6-year-olds: For five days, the youngsters
progressed from a game that moved a cat in and out of grass to more
complex tasks, such as choosing the largest number amid deliberate
distractions.
The researchers measured the children's brain activity with
electroencephalographs and administered tests of attention and
intelligence before and after the training; some children also underwent
genetic testing.
The brains of the 6-year-olds showed significant changes after the
computer training compared with untrained playmates who watched videos,
Posner reported Sept. 28 in the journal Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences.
They were small improvements compared with the effect that simply getting
older brings, Posner cautioned.
The 4-year-olds showed little change.
There also was a genetic effect: Children who were less outgoing and more
controlled were better able to concentrate for their age and thus showed
less effect from the training.
The study "significantly advances our understanding ... because it
demonstrates that executive attention skills can be trained, or
development accelerated, in young children," neuroscientists Karla Holmbie
and Mark Johnson of the University of London's Centre for Brain &
Cognitive Development wrote in an accompanying review.
But it's not clear if the training truly accelerated development--or
merely made the children better at test-taking through practice, said Lisa
Freund of the National Institutes of Health's child development branch.
"These kids may just be getting better at doing things in the lab," she
cautioned, adding that brain training for any reason, especially attention
problems, is in its infancy.
Posner echoed the cautions. "The fundamental question is, can we improve
attention in preschool ages--and can that be helpful?" he said. "We're a
long way from the final answer to that, or even a good answer."
Still, the study is important because it shows how healthy youngsters'
brains work at different tasks at different ages.
"We've got to know normal before we can really understand what's
abnormal," said NIH's Freund. "Especially with young children, there's
such a wide range of normal behavior."
The work of Posner and his colleagues seems to support other efforts
involving the use of technology to help train students to concentrate more
effectively.
