Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington, DC                       August 10, 2000
(Phone: 202/358-1979)

Keith Henry  
Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
(Phone: 757/864-6120/4)

Jane Gardner
Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA
(Phone: 757/446-6050)

RELEASE: 00-123

VIDEO GAMES MAY LEAD TO BETTER HEALTH
THROUGH NEW NASA TECHNOLOGY - REVISED

     For decades doctors have used biofeedback as a way to help 
control stress and tension. Now NASA technology adds a new twist 
by combining this mind-over-matter technique with the hand-eye 
coordination of video games.

     According to researchers at NASA's Langley Research Center in 
Hampton, VA, the results may actually improve and protect a 
player's mental and physical health. 

     This unique interactive system, tested at Eastern Virginia 
Medical School (EVMS) in Norfolk, trains people to change their 
brainwave activity or other physiological functions while playing 
popular off-the-shelf video games. This is accomplished by making 
the video game respond to the activity of the player's body and 
brain.     

     "Thirty years of biofeedback research has shown that by 
training specific brainwave changes, or reductions in other 
abnormal physiological signals, people can achieve a wide variety 
of health-enhancing outcomes,"      said Dr. Olafur Palsson, 
assistant professor of psychiatry and family medicine at EVMS. 
"With this new technology, we have found a way to package this 
training in an enjoyable and inherently motivating activity."

     Signals from sensors attached to the player's head and body 
are fed through a signal-processing unit to a video game joystick 
or other control device. As the player's brainwaves come closer to 
an optimal, stress-free pattern, the video game's joystick becomes 
easier to control. This encourages the player to produce these 
patterns or signals to succeed at the game.

     In this way, recreational video games have the potential to 
help both children and adults with a variety of health problems -- 
from concentration difficulties to physical stress.

     Unlike earlier biofeedback methods, which tended to be 
monotonous and simplistic, this technology adapts to today's most 
popular games, giving players a healthful side effect, while fully 
preserving the high-tech entertainment value.  

     "This technology is a spin-off of NASA research where we 
measure the brain activity of pilots in flight simulators, " added 
co-inventor Alan Pope, Ph.D., of Langley's Crew/Vehicle 
Integration Branch. "Flight simulators are essentially very 
sophisticated video games." Pope is an adjunct research assistant 
professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at EVMS. 

     In addition, in what could be called a "spin-back" 
application, NASA is studying ways to use the technology for pilot 
training.

     Early results from a video game biofeedback study suggest 
that the technology is effective. In this first test, to be 
completed this fall, the technology is being applied as a 
treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 
Children with ADHD, between the ages of 9 and 14, either play 
popular video games or receive more traditional brainwave 
biofeedback treatment. Both forms of treatment help the children's 
symptoms, but the video game treatment seems to have distinct 
advantages. 

     "The main difference we see between the groups so far is in 
motivation -- the children in the video game group enjoy the 
sessions more and it is easier for the parents to get them to come 
to our clinic," said Dr. Palsson, principal investigator in the 
study and co-inventor of the technology. 

     "This technology could be in homes all over the country 
within the next two or three years," according to David Shannon of 
Langley's commercialization office. "Several companies have 
applied for a license to produce training systems for the general 
public."

                              - end -

NOTE TO EDITORS:  Still images are available from Keith Henry at 
h.k.henry@larc.nasa.gov and video from Kim Land at 
k.w.land@larc.nasa.gov or 757/864-9885.