UCSF, SUSAN MERRELL
Previous attempts to use video games to halt, or even reverse, cognitive decline related to aging have generated mixed results. The latest attempt, led by neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley from the University of California, San Francisco, kept it simple by targeting a single cognitive skill: multitasking. In a study published Wednesday (September 4) in Nature, Gazzaley and his colleagues demonstrated that a handful of training sessions behind the wheel in a 3-D racing game could improve multitasking performance, and that such improvements lasted up to six months.
Gazzaley’s group developed the game, called NeuroRacer, to test the multitasking abilities of subjects ranging in age from 20 to 70. NeuroRacer requires players to steer a car around a winding track with a finger on their left hand ...
