Games & Well-Being Study

University of Wisconsin, Madison192 enrolled

Overview

This project is focused on the neural and behavioral correlates of two different videos games that will be used as training tools. The two video games, developed by the Games Learning Society research group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) and the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, are tailored to train mindfulness, particularly the regulation of attention; and prosocial behavior, especially sensitivity to others, in adolescents. This study will evaluate the hypothesis that systematic playing of mindfulness and prosocial games will change brain function in specific attentional, social and emotional circuits in potentially beneficial ways, and will impact performance on cognitive tasks of attention, and on measures of social cue perception and the propensity to share and behave altruistically. The investigators will employ behavioral and functional MRI-based neuroimaging measures to evaluate the investigators hypothesis.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

192

Conditions

Attentional Processing Adolescent Behavior

Interventions

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change from baseline in behavioral measures

Change in behavioral measures before and after attentional video game training. Timeframe is up to 7 days following the end of the 2 week game playing period.

Time frame: baseline and up to 3 weeks

Change from baseline in fMRI

Change in fMRI neural markers of empathic accuracy before and after attentional video game training. Timeframe is up to 7 days following the 2 week game playing period.