Guy McCormack, a researcher from the
University of Missouri, has carried out a study where many people with autism have played a video game called Space Racer, to win the game the player only needs to concentrate and pay attention. Researchers measure the brain activity by placing sensors on the scalp, the game changes in function of the brain activity, due this, the player needs to pay attention to the game to win it. The game consists in maintain some rocks on the screen while a sound is reproduced in the system, whenever the attention wanes, the rock goes down, changes its colour and the sound stops. Guy McCormack says "
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"
Souorce:
The Inquirer (Spanish),
Science Daily (English),
U. Missouri (English)
Guy McCormack, a researcher from the University of Missouri, has carried out a study where many people with autism have played a video game called Space Racer, to win the game the player only needs to concentrate and pay attention. Researchers measure the brain activity by placing sensors on the scalp, the game changes in function of the brain activity, due this, the player needs to pay attention to the game to win it. The game consists in maintain some rocks on the screen while a sound is reproduced in the system, whenever the attention wanes, the rock goes down, changes its colour and the sound stops. Guy McCormack says "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"
The Autism and Learning Difficulties Group are finalising the details of the ‘tic-tac’ tool which will be published in the weeks ahead and which has been designed to enable people with autism and/or learning difficulties to understand and manage the concept of time more easily in situations where they have to wait, to indicate available leisure time, to indicate the time which we have to carry out a task, in situations which can produce sensorial overload and in other situations which are thought to be useful.
The European project IROMEC (IST-FP6-045356) is intended to prevent isolation and dependence of children with disabilities and help them to develop their potential and new skills by means of an environment focussed on play that is backed up by robots that assume the role of social mediators and that can be adapted to the individual characteristics of each user. More information: http://www.iromec.org/
