at an increase in theta activity in the medial prefrontal area reflects suppression of the default network, which activates when the brain is not engaged in a specific task. When people master a skill such as driving in the real world they tend to go on “automatic pilot,” which allows the mind to wander while performing the task. NeuroRacer prevents this by becoming more difficult as the player's proficiency increases, thereby discouraging activity of the default network.
The failure to suppress the default network, associated with daydreaming and mind wandering, could result in distraction and a failure to attend fully to cognitive tasks, the researchers suspect. “NeuroRacer training may benefit cognitive control abilities by improving the ability of older adults to suppress the default network during task engagement, a process known to be compromised in ageing,” they wrote.
Dr. Gazzaley and his colleagues began their research by evaluating the multitasking ability of 174 participants ranging in age from 20 to 79, who played a version of NeuroRacer that required them to respond to signs while using a joystick to “drive” a car moving down a road on a computer screen. As expected, the ability of the players to multitask decreased in a linear fashion according to age, with the largest drop occurring between players in their 20s and in their 30s.
In a second experiment, the researchers randomly assigned 46 older adults to one of three groups. One group played a version of NeuroRacer that required multitasking. Another group played a version that involved responding to road signs or driving, but not both at the same time. A third group did not play the game. Members of the first two groups played NeuroRacer at home on a laptop one hour a day, three days a week, for four weeks. Assessment showed that the multitasking ability of members in the first group improved dramatically, with the mental “cost” of multitasking dropping from -64.2 percent to -16.2 percent. Even without “booster sessions,” the cost had risen only to -21.9 percent after six months. The improvement among the older players left them more efficient at multitasking than 20-year-olds, whose mental cost was measured at 36.7 percent during their first session playing NeuroRacer.
Finally, the researchers determined through electroencephalography readings that the amount of theta activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, which increased most among those who played the most demanding version of NeuroRacer, correlated with performance improvements on the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA), indicating general improvements in sustained attention and working memory. This suggests “a common, underlying mechanism of cognitive control was challenged and enhanced” by playing the multitasking version of NeuroRacer, the researchers stated. If that's true, then a game like NeuroRacer might exploit neuroplasticity to produce improvements in attention-deficit disorder, autism, and other conditions, according to Dr. Gazzaley.
The improvements in multitasking performance on the game detected in the older players persisted for six months, arousing interest in NeuroRacer as a means of slowing cognitive decline, but there are no plans to commercialize the game.
“I've been asked to get this game out there commercially right now, but that's not our plan,” said Dr. Gazzaley, a co-founder of a Akili Interactive Labs, a Boston company developing a similar game called “Project Evo,” which is entering clinical trials to test its ability to improve depression, attention deficit, and some forms of autism — disorders believed to be exacerbated by a decline in cognitive abilities.
“We're studying children playing this game, both healthy children and those with autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. It will require careful validation to determine if there are effects, but they certainly have problems with interference and cognitive control.”
Kirk R. Daffner, MD, lead author of a recent paper in Brain Research on age-related differences in selective attention, found the Nature pap