Blowing up virtual aliens can help dyslexic children analyze words
Children at risk for dyslexia who played Space Invaders Extreme 2 Improvements were seen in word identification tasks.
A look at the classic video game Space Invaders
Peter McDiarmid/Getty Images
In the video game Space Invaders Extreme 2, players must use their weapons to destroy aliens attacking Earth. These aliens move quickly and pour down from the top of the screen, taking a “life” from the player when they reach the bottom.
research In ~ nature It is suggested that such games may help children at risk for developmental dyslexia (a genetic neurological condition that makes word processing difficult). It improves the ability to recognize spoken words and sounds. Destroying digital aliens may not seem to have anything to do with distinguishing words, but Past research Action video games that require people to develop dexterous cognitive and motor skills have been found to activate the attention-regulating part of the brain that processes memory.
For the new study, 79 pre-reading children with a family history of dyslexia took several language tests, including listening for differences in made-up words—a task that can be difficult for people with dyslexia. The children were then divided into four groups: one group played Space Invaders Extreme 2, a second group played a non-action video game, a third group received speech therapy (a common treatment for language disorders in Italy, where the study was conducted), and a fourth group received no intervention. The gamers played for 45 minutes four times a week for a month and a half, while those who received speech therapy attended 45-minute sessions twice a week for about four months.
About supporting science journalism
If you enjoyed this article, please support our award-winning journalism. Subscriptions. By purchasing a subscription, you help ensure a future of influential stories about the discoveries and ideas that shape our world today.
By the end of the experiment, more than 80 percent of the Space Invaders players were significantly better at the word identification task than before, and showed greater improvement than the other three groups. The researchers aren’t sure why the game enhanced this particular task. Scores on other language tests didn’t improve as significantly, but they say the finding could be valuable. “If we can target these small cognitive functions before children get older and lose their brain plasticity, maybe we can [aspects of dyslexia] “Before it is fully formed,” said study co-author Simone Gori, a neuroscientist at the University of Bergamo in Italy.
Marilu Gorno Tempini, a behavioral neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco, and an Italian native, says dyslexia often goes untreated in Italy’s overburdened public health and school systems. She says the study offers hope for early childhood interventions, and she looks forward to larger, future studies conducted in other languages. The new study is one of the first to show that video games can help people with learning disabilities, led by Khizer Khaderi, a neuro-ophthalmology surgeon at Stanford University. “The eyes are an extension of the brain,” he says. “So when we play video games, there’s a direct connection to our cognitive function, and there’s a lot of research potential there.”
