Baduk (the Game of Go) Improved Cognitive Function and Brain Activity in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Boardgames as an innovative approach to promote life skills and well-being among inmates: A scoping review protocol

Over the past few decades, a growing body of evidence has emerged regarding the positive impact of boardgames in promoting life skills and well-being in various settings including health, education, and military schooling. However, the use of boardgames with inmates for cultural and educational purposes is still an unexplored and fragmented area of research. Incorporating boardgames into correctional settings can be a complex challenge for correctional stakeholders who seek to identify innovative tools to enhance inmate education and promote integration into society after incarceration. This article outlines our scoping review protocol designed to map and evaluate published and grey literature on the motivational, psychological, and pedagogical considerations involved in the design and use of boardgames as an innovative approach to promoting life skills and well-being among inmates.

Effectiveness of a Personalized, Chess-Based Training Serious Video Game in the Treatment of Adolescents and Young Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND

Compared with traditional approaches, gaming strategies are promising interventions for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We developed a serious game, The Secret Trail of Moon (TSTM), for ADHD treatment.

OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this clinical trial was to demonstrate the effectiveness of an add-on, either TSTM or Therapeutic Chess (TC), in previously optimally drug-titrated, clinically stable patients with ADHD.

METHODS

This study is a prospective, unicentric, randomized clinical trial in clinically stable patients with ADHD, aged 12 to 22 years. The TSTM (n=35) and TC groups (n=34) performed 12 weekly sessions of their respective treatments. The control group (CG) patients (n=35) were called by phone every week, but they received no cognitive intervention. The primary end point was the change from baseline to end point in the parent "Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-2" (BRIEF-2; patients' parents) in the per-protocol population (31 serious videogame: 24 TC and 34 CG).

RESULTS

Our study failed to probe clear-cut improvements in the global score of the BRIEF-2. However, the TC group showed improvements in measures of emotional control, emotional regulation, and inattention. The TSTM group showed improvements in measures of emotional regulation, inattention, and school context.

CONCLUSIONS

TSTM and TC did not improve executive function symptoms, but they improved ADHD symptomatology related to emotional regulation. Further studies with bigger samples are required to confirm these preliminary findings.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04355065; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04355065.

Video games and board games: Effects of playing practice on cognition

The worldwide popularity of playing practices has led to a growing research interest in games' impact on behavior and cognition. Many studies have already reported the benefits of both video games and board games for cognitive functions. However, these studies have mainly defined the term players according to a minimum play time or in connection to a specific game genre. No study has confronted the cognitive implications of video games and board games in the same statistical model. Thus, it remains unclear whether the cognitive benefits of play are due to play time or game type. To address this issue, in this study, we conducted an online experiment in which 496 participants completed six cognitive tests and a playing practice questionnaire. We examined the between the participants' overall video game and board game play times and cognitive abilities. The results demonstrated significant relations between overall play time and all cognitive functions. Importantly, video games significantly predicted mental flexibility, planning, visual working memory, visuospatial processing, fluid intelligence, and verbal working memory performance, while board games were not found to predict any cognitive performance. These findings suggest that video games affect cognitive functions in specific ways compared to board games. We encourage further investigation to consider players' individual differences through their play time and the specific features of the games they play.

Cognitive Reflection and Theory of Mind of Go Players

Go is a classical Chinese mind game and a highly popular intellectual pursuit in East Asia. In a survey at two Go tournaments (one of them the largest in Europe), we measured cognitive reflection and decision in strategic games (using the classical "beauty contest" game) (N = 327). We found that Go players in our survey had outstanding average cognitive reflection test (CRT) scores: 2.51 among all participants and 2.80 among players of high master level (dan). This value easily outperforms previous measurements, for example, of undergraduates at top universities. The CRT score was closely related to the playing strength, but not to the frequency of playing. On the other hand, frequent players tended to have higher theory of mind, regardless of their playing strengths. However, selfreported patience was not statistically significantly correlated with Go strength or playing frequency.

Psychosocial interventions for dementia in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): a systematic review of effectiveness and implementation readiness

INTRODUCTION

Despite wide uptake in high-income countries (HICs), less is known about the effectiveness and implementation of psychological, social and cognitive interventions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite this, such interventions are increasingly used. The aim of this review was to appraise the effectiveness and implementation readiness of psychosocial interventions for people with dementia in LMICs.

METHODS

A systematic search of databases from 1998-2019. Studies were rated on two scales assessing quality and implementation readiness.

RESULTS

Seventeen articles describing 11 interventions in six countries were evaluated. Interventions included Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST), a Multidisciplinary Cognitive Rehabilitation Programme (MCRP), singing interventions, occupational therapy and reminiscence therapy. The quality of included studies was variable, and many had low sample sizes. Evidence for improving both cognition and quality of life was found in two interventions: Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) and a Multidisciplinary Cognitive Rehabilitation Programme (MCRP). Implementation issues were more likely to be explored in studies of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) than in any other intervention.

CONCLUSIONS

Of the included studies here, CST appears to be the most implementation ready, improving both cognition and quality of life with implementation readiness effectively explored in two LMIC countries: India and Tanzania.

The behavioral effects of cooperative and competitive board games in preschoolers

Traditional board games are a common social activity for many children, but little is known about the behavioral effects of this type of game. The current study aims to explore the behavioral effects of cooperative and competitive board games in four‐to‐six‐year‐old children (N = 65). Repeatedly during 6 weeks, children in groups of four played either cooperative or competitive board games in a between‐subject design, and shortly after each game conducted a task in which children’s cooperative, prosocial, competitive, and antisocial behavior were observed. The type of board game did not have an effect on cooperative, prosocial or antisocial behavior. Cooperative and competitive board games elicited equal amounts of cooperative and prosocial behavior, which suggest that board games, regardless of type, could have positive effects on preschoolers’ social behavior. Our results suggest that children may compete more after playing competitive board games; but the measure of competitive behavior in particular was unreliable. Preschoolers enjoyed playing cooperative board games more than competitive board games, which may be one reason to prefer their use.

A Review of the Effects of Abacus Training on Cognitive Functions and Neural Systems in Humans

Abacus, which represents numbers via a visuospatial format, is a traditional device to facilitate arithmetic operations. Skilled abacus users, who have acquired the ability of abacus-based mental calculation (AMC), can perform fast and accurate calculations by manipulating an imaginary abacus in mind. Due to this extraordinary calculation ability in AMC users, there is an expanding literature investigating the effects of AMC training on cognition and brain systems. This review study aims to provide an updated overview of important findings in this fast-growing research field. Here, findings from previous behavioral and neuroimaging studies about AMC experts as well as children and adults receiving AMC training are reviewed and discussed. Taken together, our review of the existing literature suggests that AMC training has the potential to enhance various cognitive skills including mathematics, working memory and numerical magnitude processing. Besides, the training can result in functional and anatomical neural changes that are largely located within the frontal-parietal and occipital-temporal brain regions. Some of the neural changes can explain the training-induced cognitive enhancements. Still, caution is needed when extend the conclusions to a more general situation. Implications for future research are provided.

Efficacy of a computer-based cognitive training program to enhance planning skills in 5 to 7-year-old normally-developing children

We designed and evaluated the efficacy of a computer-based cognitive training program (Executive Function Enhancement Program [EFEP]) to stimulate executive functions through enhancing planning in normally-developing children. A total of 111 Colombian children participated in the study. Fifty-nine (53%) of the children were assigned to the experimental condition (application of the EFEP program) with two levels of planning performance, and fifty-two (47%) to the waiting list control condition with the same two levels of planning. The training program was applied three times a week over six weeks, with post-intervention assessment two weeks after the end of training. A follow-up assessment was carried out three months later. Results showed that the intervention program was particularly effective in the children with lower pre-intervention performance in planning, demonstrating that the program is an efficient therapeutic instrument for enhancing the executive function of planning in children between 5 and 7 years old.

The effectiveness of intervention with board games: a systematic review

To examine the effectiveness of board games and programs that use board games, the present study conducted a systematic review using the PsycINFO and PubMed databases with the keywords “board game” AND “trial;” in total, 71 studies were identified. Of these 71 studies, 27 satisfied the inclusion criteria in terms of program content, intervention style, and pre–post comparisons and were subsequently reviewed. These 27 studies were divided into the following three categories regarding the effects of board games and programs that use board games: educational knowledge (11 articles), cognitive functions (11 articles), and other conditions (five articles). The effect sizes between pre- and post-tests or pre-tests and follow-up tests were 0.12–1.81 for educational knowledge, 0.04–2.60 and − 1.14 – − 0.02 for cognitive functions, 0.06–0.65 for physical activity, and − 0.87 – − 0.61 for symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The present findings showed that, as a tool, board games can be expected to improve the understanding of knowledge, enhance interpersonal interactions among participants, and increase the motivation of participants. However, because the number of published studies in this area remains limited, the possibility of using board games as treatment for clinical symptoms requires further discussion.

A meta-analysis on verbal working memory in children and adolescents with ADHD

Objective: Previous meta-analyses have demonstrated verbal working memory (WM) dysfunction in children and adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); however, the findings are inconsistent. The main objective of this meta-analysis was to investigate the performance of children and adolescents with ADHD in the Digit Span Backwards (DSB) subtest from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children or Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. We also sought to provide an updated meta-analysis on WM in children and adolescents with ADHD.Method: PubMed, PsyINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched to locate studies published between 1990 and 2016 that report DSB scores both of children and adolescents with ADHD and matched controls. Potential moderator variables were also analyzed.Results: Forty-nine studies comparing children and adolescents with ADHD (n = 4956) against healthy controls (n = 3249) generated a medium-sized effect (Hedges' g) of 0.56 (95% CI [0.49, 0.64]), indicating poorer verbal WM performance in those with ADHD. A subgroup meta-analysis of studies with participants aged 8-16 years only demonstrated low heterogeneity (I² = 17.06, cf. 55.50 for the main analysis). Moreover, the meta-regression showed a negative association (β = -.05, p = .02) between DSB performance differences and increasing age, indicating that for every one year increase in age the effect size decreased by .05.Conclusion: These results, which emanated from the largest meta-analysis concerning verbal WM in ADHD reported to date, reinforce WM as a key domain of cognitive dysfunction in ADHD, and point to age as the main variable influencing DSB performance difficulties.

Special series on "effects of board games on health education and promotion" board games as a promising tool for health promotion: a review of recent literature

Board games are played by moving game pieces in particular ways on special boards marked with patterns. To clarify the possible roles of board game use in psychosomatic medicine, the present review evaluated studies that investigated the effects of this activity on health education and treatment. A literature search conducted between January 2012 and August 2018 identified 83 relevant articles; 56 (67%) targeted education or training for health-related problems, six (7%) examined basic brain mechanisms, five (6%) evaluated preventative measures for dementia or contributions to healthy aging, and three (4%) assessed social communication or public health policies. The results of several randomized controlled trials indicated that the playing of traditional board games (e.g., chess, Go, and Shogi) helps to improve cognitive impairment and depression, and that the playing of newly developed board games is beneficial for behavioral modifications, such as the promotion of healthy eating, smoking cessation, and safe sex. Although the number of studies that have evaluated board game use in terms of mental health remains limited, many studies have provided interesting findings regarding brain function, cognitive effects, and the modification of health-related lifestyle factors.

Поєднання гри Го і фізичних вправ як фактор розвитку когнітивних і нейродинамічних функцій дітей 6 років

Мета роботи – виявити вплив застосування гри Го в сполученні з фізичними вправами на  показники когнітивних і нейродинамічних властивостей дітей 6 років. Матеріал і методи. В дослідженні взяли участь 30 дітей перших класів, вік 6 років. Діти були поділені на 3 групи по 10 осіб в кожній. Дві групи стали експериментальними, одна група – контрольною. В першій експериментальній групі діти займались грою Го, в другій – грою Го в сполученні з фізичними вправами, в контрольній групі – за звичайною програмою продовженого дня. Діти експериментальних груп займалися грою Го два рази в тиждень протягом місяця. До і після експерименту було проведено тестування за методикою Шульте, і за методикою Єрмакова (комп’ютерна програма «Вибір кнопки»). Експериментальні групи займалися за розробленими методиками, діти контрольної групи займалися за стандартною програмою групи продовженого дня. Результати. Застосування гри Го позитивно впливає на розумову праздатність і на нейродинамічні функції, при цьому вплив на нейродинамічні функції посилюється застосуванням гри Го в сполученні з фізичними вправами. Показано достовірний вплив характеру занять в групах (гра Го; Гра Го в сполученні з фізичними вправами; звичайні заняття за програмою продовженого дня) на когнітивні та нейродинамічні функції дітей 6 років. Достовірний вплив виявлено за тестами Шульте (час роботи на першій таблиці і ефективність роботи) при р<0,001 та за тестом Єрмакова з визначення швидкості реакції вибору при зміні положення об’єкта в просторі в трьох спробах при р<0,001. Висновки. Результати проведених досліджень свідчать про те, що застосування гри Го позитивно впливає на показники когнітивних функцій та нейродинамічних властивостей дітей 6 років. Заняття тільки грою Го найбільш впливає на розумову працездатність, а заняття грою Го в сполученні з фізичними вправами найбільш виражено поліпшує нейродинамічні показники, пов’язані з необхідністю перемикання уваги, швидкості реакції вибору на об’єкти, положення яких змінюється в просторі.

Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of the GO Game Intervention on Cognitive Function

This study investigated the effects of an intervention using the game "GO" on cognitive function in nursing home residents and evaluated the acquisition of GO according to each stage of dementia. Participants were randomly assigned to either the GO intervention group or a control group, and the intervention was performed once weekly for 15 weeks. Cognitive tests were conducted before and after intervention, and 17 participants were included in the final analysis. Analysis of covariance demonstrated that in the intervention group, the digit span total score significantly improved and the digit span backward score was maintained, whereas these scores decreased in the control group. All participants, including those who had moderate dementia, acquired the rules of the game, and participants with mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia could play the game successfully. This study indicates that GO might improve the cognitive function of residents living in nursing homes.

Higher extrinsic and lower intrinsic connectivity in resting state networks for professional Baduk (Go) players

INTRODUCTION

Dedication and training to a profession results in a certain level of expertise. This expertise, like any other skill obtained in our lifetime, is encoded in the brain and may be reflected in our brain's connectome. This property can be observed by mapping resting state connectivity. In this study, we examine the differences in resting state functional connectivity in four major networks between professional "Baduk" (Go) players and normal subjects.

METHODS

Resting state fMRI scans were acquired for professional "Baduk" (Go) players and normal controls. Major resting state networks were identified using independent component analysis and compared between the two groups. Networks which were compared include the default mode network, the left and right fronto-parietal network, and the salience network.

RESULTS

We found that normal subjects showed increased connectivity within certain areas of each target network. Professional players, however, showed higher connectivity to regions outside the traditional regions of each given network. Close examination of these regions revealed that regions shown to have higher connectivity in professional players have been revealed to be relevant in expertise for board games.

CONCLUSION

The findings in this study suggest that continuous training results in greater integration between regions and networks, which are necessary for high-level performance. The differences observed in our study between normal controls and professional players also shed light on the difference in brain connectivity which can arise through lifestyle and specialization in a specific field.

The impacts of a GO-game (Chinese chess) intervention on Alzheimer disease in a Northeast Chinese population

A GO game can enhance mental health, but its effects on Alzheimer Disease (AD) remains unknown. To address the issue, 147 AD patients were randomly assigned into control (without GO-game intervention), Short-time GO-Game Intervention (SGGI, 1 h daily) and Long-time GO-game Intervention (LGGI, 2 h daily) groups. After 6-month follow-up, the game reduced the mean score of Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scales (MADRS) of 4.72 (95% CI, 0.69 to 9.12) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) of 1.75 (95% CI, 0.17–3.68), and increased the mean score of Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) of 4.95 (95% CI, −1.37–9.18) and RAND-36 of 4.61 (95% CI, −2.75–11.32) (P < 0.05 via controls). A GO-game intervention improved 9 of 11 items of KICA-dep (Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment of Depression). Meanwhile, serum levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were higher in SGGI and LGGI groups (24.02 ± 7.16 and 28.88 ± 4.12 ng/ml respectively, P = 0.051) than those in controls (17.28 ± 7.75 ng/ml) (P < 0.001). The serum levels of BDNF showed a negative relation with MADRS and a positive relation with RAND-36 (P < 0.01). A GO-game intervention ameliorates AD manifestations by up-regulating BDNF levels.

A groundwork for allostatic neuro-education

We propose to enliven educational practice by marrying a conception of education as guided human development, to an advanced scientific understanding of the brain known as allostasis (stability through change). The result is a groundwork for allostatic neuro-education (GANE). Education as development encompasses practices including the organic (homeschooling and related traditions), cognitive acquisition (emphasis on standards and testing), and the constructivist (aimed to support adaptive creativity for both learner and society). Allostasis views change to be the norm in biology, defines success in contexts of complex natural environments rather than controlled settings, and identifies the brain as the organ of central command. Allostatic neuro-education contrasts with education focused dominantly on testing, or neuroscience based on homeostasis (stability through constancy). The GANE perspective is to view learners in terms of their neurodevelopmental trajectories; its objective is to support authentic freedom, mediated by competent, integrated, and expansive executive functionality (concordant with the philosophy of freedom of Rudolf Steiner); and its strategy is to be attuned to rhythms in various forms (including those of autonomic arousal described in polyvagal theory) so as to enable experiential excitement for learning. The GANE presents a variety of testable hypotheses, and studies that explore prevention or mitigation of the effects of early life adversity or toxic stress on learning and development may be of particular importance. Case studies are presented illustrating use of allostatic neurotechnology by an adolescent male carrying diagnoses of Asperger’s syndrome and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a grade school girl with reading difficulties. The GANE is intended as a re-visioning of education that may serve both learners and society to be better prepared for the accelerating changes of the 21st century.