Game helps to diminish intrusive memories.By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Scientists at the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge believe Tetris, the bestselling videogame of all time, may be helpful in alleviating post-traumatic stress disorder.
In an experiment designed to diminish “intrusive” memories associated with trauma, researchers examined subjects who had seen video footage of real traumatic events, including deadly accidents, and then had some of them play Tetris as a way to help them clear their mind of traumatic images.
The study revealed those who played Tetris 24 hours after seeing a film containing disturbing video footage of real traumatic incidents — including a car accident and a drowning — reported fewer intrusive memories in the days after their first viewing, according to ABC News.
The researchers theorized that playing the game re-configures the visual memory, as the brain focuses on both the visual game and memory of the film.
Lead researcher Emily Holmes said the group that had played the game experienced 51 percent fewer intrusive memories of the traumatizing video than the group that had not, reported The Independent. The Tetris players also scored lower on the intrusive memory section of a questionnaire used to diagnose PTSD.
“We started with Tetris because there is previous research showing that it uses up visual attention,” Holmes told the British publication. “Think of it like hand washing. Hand washing is not a fancy intervention, but it can reduce all sorts of illness. This is similar – if the experimental result translates, it could be a cheap preventative measure informed by science.”
The results of the study are published in the journal Psychological Science. Holmes, who is already testing Tetris in hospitals with people involved in car accidents, believes other visually demanding games such as Candy Crush, or different visual tasks altogether, could have similar effects.