May 21, 2007
Can video games cause brain damage?Unless an arcade cabinet falls on your head, probably not. But would you believe that games can be used to treat brain damage?Almost five months ago, boxer Albert Liaw went down during a match and didn’t get back up. Doctors discovered Liaw had suffered a brain injury during the fight. But, as reported by CBC News, Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton is using the boxing game in Nintendo’s Wii Sports as a supplement to typical therapy to help put Liaw on the road to recovery.
As gamers know, Wii Boxing is played by making punching movements with Nintendo’s motion sensitive controllers. An onscreen avatar then mimics the player's movements, pummeling the virtual opponent.
Liaw started out in a wheelchair but is now playing on his own two feet. Don Simoneau, his occupational therapist, credits the game’s entertainment value as a significant factor in the therapy’s success:
It was very motivating. We could have him do therapy for an hour and he wouldn't mind one bit. Now when I see him playing today it's incredible to think back to where he was.
We try to use activity but there is only so many times you can bat a balloon around back and forth. And only so many times you can reach for a bean bag.
-Reporting from San Diego, GP Correspondent Andrew Eisen
Comments
Can I have your mailing address, for me to ship your one free internet to?
A.
So, yes. Are they using a Wii just because it can be used for other purposes, or is there an actual useful benefit to the Wii besides convenience?
It's comments like yours that make the "jorb" worthwhile.
Andrew Eisen
I imagine the interactive nature of the game vs. a punching bag makes Liaw’s therapy more intellectually stimulating. A good thing considering he’s suffered a brain injury.
Andrew Eisen
Nekojin is right. It's actually throwing those punches with the controllers that's helping him. Pressing A and B on a controller won't help him.
There actually is a study that makes that claim. I followed a link that BlueWolf72 (thanks for the info!) had posted on a earlier article and was dumb-founded by the claims. Just thought it was relevent to this topic.
Here it is again: http://www.schillerinstitute.org/new_viol/videos_brain.html
1.) It involves movements that hes already comfortable with - he's not using a traditional controller and pushing buttons, he's making actual punching motions with his hands.
2.) It is more entertaining, and therefore more mentally stimulating, than traditional physical therapy.
Updating the graphics and realism of the physics won't change a thing about either of those. I actually strongly suspect that the fact that it's not realistic is helpful in some ways.
He's been using the Wii-therapy for about a month. I just saw him yesterday -- and his condition has improved immensely since I last I saw him around a month ago.
Pretty cool to see the local tv stations and newspapers and also all the Wii/video game blogs pick up on this story.
Check it out.
Andrew Eisen