WHY GAMES?

Games are fun, and they may help to repair the sequencing ability of injured brains.

In their book “Conversations with Neil’s Brain”, Calvin and Ojerman discuss research procedures and discoveries made during brain surgery. In this excellent discussion of “the neural nature of thought and language” Calvin and Ojeman state that :

  “IF SEQUENCING ABILITIES are a major underlying feature of language mechanisms, it may be that they can be exercised by means other than listening and talking (or watching and signing). A game with rules of procedure, for example, might also involve the same neural machinery.”

  “The cortical-subcortical division between novel associations and skilled routine suggests, however, that it may be discovering the rules of the game which is more important to developing cortical sequencing abilities than accomplished performance. Learning many new songs might be better than learning to sing one song well, at least for exercising sequencing cortex. ....”

  “Language, planning ahead, music, dance, and games with rules of progression are all human serial-order skills that involve some common neural machinery. Hammering, throwing, kicking, and clubbing also belong on that same list, as their sequence of muscle contractions must be completely planned before beginning the movement -- feedback is too slow to correct the movement, once underway.....”

Although this is only the work of one research team, they rely on and refer to many other studies that support their conclusions. Based on this work, we hoped that it might be possible to retrain or repair the sequencing ability of an injured brain by using games that require the player to discover the rules by trial and error. Since most computer games are played without reading the rules, and many games (e.g. DOOM and QUAKE) require discovery of the rules by playing, we decided to try to find and use such games. We also felt that these games required exercise of sequenced muscle movements, e.g. use of the trackball, keyboard, or mouse which might help recovery of function.

Naturally, we had to find games that were compatible with Brad’s current disability state.We started with Solitaire, and proceeded through TimeTreks, EarthTreks, DOOM and QUAKE. Brad is currently learning WarCraft. There is no magic in this set of games, although they fit Brads recovery sequence well. Other games might have been found, but once we found one that Brad liked we quit looking. Although we describe this process as if we had thought it out in advance, we actually stumbled through the first few stages, fortunately with no bad results.

We decided that as soon as Brad learned the rules of a game well enough to occasionally win, he should begin to play a new game. Naturally, he continues to play games that he has conquered, because it’s fun. Since Brad has continued to improve, we have continued the process, but I think that Brad would have played games in any case, because he can enjoy games independently, and get a sense of accomplishment from playing them.