Could Rock Band and Wii Fit help keep you from getting Alzheimer’s disease? That is the question researchers for the Cognitive Fitness and Innovative Therapies (CFIT) program want to find out. According to CFIT, “the risk factors for cognitive decline are now well-recognized” and fall into three categories:
- Genes and Age: Over this category, we have no control.
- Medical Risks: The most important medical risks are blood pressure, lipid profile, and glucose.
- Lifestyle Factors: Exercise, diet, stress, social life, and ongoing cognitive challenges.
Games like Brain Age and Brain Academy for the Nintendo DS have already been touted for their therapeutic qualities, but less attention has given to other activities.
Researchers want to know if music and fitness games can delay the onset of Alzheimer's
Unlike some studies, CFIT does not limit itself to puzzle games like Brain Age. Researchers are following a diverse early intervention program that includes music, fitness, diet, and board games. Wii Fit is an integral part of the program, along with singing, playing music, and low tech puzzle games like Connect 4.
CFIT is also different in its focus on prevention rather than treatment. Other studies have looked at using the Wii to treat Alzheimer’s suffers. However, by then “it’s too late,” asserts Dr. Kenneth Kosik of the University of California Neuroscience Institute in Santa Barbara, California. Kosik, who is one of the founders of CFIT, suggests that people with family histories of Alzheimer’s Disease begin an intervention program when they are in their 50s or younger.
CFIT researchers also believe that socializing is an important component of Alzheimer’s prevention. The more isolated one is, the more rapidly one experiences declining mental capacity. Although social activities are included in the program regimen, online social networking and online gaming are not part of the study.
The CFIT program is still in the early stages, and it will be some time before the results are known. Even if a positive correlation is found between program activities and disease prevention, the study will still be faced with the task of identifying which activities have the most impact.
Changing Public Perception
Critics of video games have tried to link on-screen violence to violent behavior in schools and other settings. However, more people are discovering the benefits video games offer, as the Nintendo Wii, DS, and Apple iPhone expand the market of gamers beyond the core 18-34 male demographic.
In a recent interview, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto expressed his disdain for censorship as a way to deal with objectionable content. “When it comes to the question of how each individual game designer or developer should make their games,” he said, “I don’t think we should try to intervene in how they are trying to express themselves in whichever format.”
Nevertheless, he explained that part of his job is “to make video games as relevant as possible for a wide ranger of generations of people.”
I do not think we should limit the audience to a particular category, for example, young kids or young males, or a limited number of people. At least, that’s how I’ve been trying to make my own games. We just talked about the opportunities for the Academy recognizing video games as an art form. We really appreciate that kind of opportunity because that can change the mindset of the general public, to how they conceive video games per se.
In the end, formal recognition of video games as art will probably have less of an impact on public perception than Miyamoto thinks. On the other hand, programs like CFIT have the potential to change public opinion if they can demonstrate the social and health benefits of video games.
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