As part of an initiative to chronicle the health benefits of videogames, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has bestowed over $1.85 million in grants to nine research teams.

RWJF’s Health Games Research program, headquartered at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is backed by $8.25 million in funding from RWJF’s Pioneer Portfolio, which operates under the mantra of supporting “innovative projects that may lead to breakthrough improvements in the future of health and health care.” The grant winners announced today are part of a second round of funding.

Pioneer Portfolio Team Director Paul Tarini stated, “The pace of growth and innovation in digital games is incredible, and we see tremendous potential to design them to help people stay healthy or manage chronic conditions like diabetes or Parkinson’s disease.  However, we need to know more about what works and what does not—and why.”

Research teams were chosen from 185 total proposals and each was awarded between $100,000 and $300,00. The grant winners, and a short synopsis of their field of study, are:

• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia - Reward Circuitry, Autism and Games that Teach Social Perceptual Skills
 
• George Washington University - Active-Adventure: Investigating a Novel Exergaming Genre in Inner City School Physical Education Programs

• Georgetown University - Wii Active Exergame Intervention for Low-Income African-American Obese and Overweight Adolescents

• Long Island University - Dance Video Game Training and Falling in Parkinson’s Disease

• Michigan State University - Buddy Up! Harnessing Group Dynamics to Boost Motivation to Exercise

• Michigan State University - Short-Term and Long-Term Effectiveness of Exergames for Young Adults

• Teachers College, Columbia University - Lit: A Game Intervention for Nicotine Smokers

• University of California, San Francisco - A Video Game to Enhance Cognitive Health in Older Adults

• University of Southern California - Robot Motivator: Towards Adaptive Health Games for Productive Long-Term Interaction

Following the news of a treatment center in the UK expanding its offerings to include treating game addiction, an Australian academic has called for a similar program to be launched down under.

Sydney University Psychiatric Professor Vladan Starcevic, also billed as a game addition expert, made the call for action to the Herald Sun citing his own recent research in which he polled 2,000 gamers. The results of the survey led him to believe that up to one in ten subjects showed signs of addictive behavior. Starcevic said that his study was undertaken due to more patients exhibiting signs of being addicted to games.

Of the UK’s Broadway Lodge treatment center, Starcevic noted, “I think it's good that someone has taken this seriously. I think it should be recognised that this is a problem for some people.”

Starcevic’s full study will be released in this month’s Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.

The family of Jennifer Strange, a woman who died following a radio station contest that had her drink large quantities of water and attempt to not go to the bathroom in an attempt to win a Nintendo Wii, has been awarded $16.0 million.

The contest was held in 2007 and put on by the Morning Rave show at Sacramento radio station KDND-FM. The 28-year old Strange had taken second place in the contest, but after drinking about two gallons of water during the event, was found dead in her home. A subsequent post-mortem indicated that her death was caused by water intoxication.

While no criminal charges were filed, the radio station fired 10 employees. The payout to the family was the result of a wrongful death suit, which had sought $34.0 million.

Sky News reports that lawyers for the station had “argued that her death was unforeseeable, and her 'contributory negligence' led in part to her death.” A jury deliberated for two weeks before coming out with the decision.

Thanks Phillip and Andrew

As part of a policy statement on media violence, The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) outlines steps pediatricians can take to evaluate potential heavy media use by children.

Beginning with the claim that “the evidence is now clear and convincing: media violence is 1 of the causal factors of real-life violence and aggression,” the AAP paper encourages pediatricians to ask at least two media-related questions per each adolescent visit: How much entertainment media per day is the child watching? and Is there a TV or Internet connection in the child’s bedroom?

The AAP recommends that parents remove televisions, Internet and videogames from their kid’s rooms and limit screen time to one to two hours per day, totally avoiding violent games. Parents are also encouraged to co-view any material in order to screen it for appropriateness.

The AAP had recommendations targeted at the entertainment industry as well, including these specific videogame-related topics:

• Video games should not use human or other living targets or award points for killing, because this teaches children to associate pleasure and success with their ability to cause pain and suffering to others.
• Play of violent video games should be restricted to age-limited areas of gaming arcades; the distribution of videos and video games and the exhibition of movies should be limited to appropriate age groups.

A new study undertaken by a group of Massachusetts General Hospital researchers attempts to further explore whether a link exists between playing violent videogames and aggressive behavior in adolescents.

“M-Rated Video Games and Aggressive or Problem Behavior Among Young Adolescents” surveyed 1,254 7th and 8th grade students in Pennsylvania and South Carolina in late 2004. Youths were asked which five games they had “played a lot” in the past six months and were asked to detail any “delinquent,” bullying or physically aggressive behaviors.

Among those who were current game players, 48.8% (67.9% boys and 29.2% girls) had at least one M-rated game on their most-played list. Cross tallying and crunching variables led the researchers to conclude:

M-rated games remained a strongly significant predictor of engaging in bullying and physical aggression However, we found no significant relationship between playing M-rated games and being a victim of bullies, or engaging in delinquent behaviors.

Boys were then split off from girls and their responses analyzed separately. With boys “M-rated game exposure ceased to be a significant predictor of bullying, and aggressive personality,” though “M-rated game play was still a significant, though weaker, predictor of fighting.”

With girls, “frequent M-rated game use became an even stronger predictor of bullying and fighting.”

The group concluded:

Overall, our hypothesis that heavy play of Mature-rated, violent games would predict a greater risk for common problem behaviors, even when controlling for potential confounders suggested by previous research, was partially supported.

The researchers pointed out a few limitations of their study, which included the fact that “Involvement in problem behaviors is common among adolescents.” Also, responses from the children indicating their top five games of the past six months were not independently verified.

Interestingly, in touching on legislation that seeks to ban children’s access to “violent” videogames, and asking “who would determine whether a game fits these critieria,” the study states, “Because of these complexities, it is unlikely that a narrow category of games could be clearly identified and supported by research as broadly harmful to young people.”

GP: We have an inquiry in with one of the researchers to make sure that's it's OK to post the whole study (PDF) on the website.

Update: Just a note that the research team included Dr. Cheryl Olson, co-author of Grand Theft Childhood.

Update 2: Here's a link to a PDF of the full study.

A school located in the Sengkang area of Singapore has added the Nintendo Wii to its physical education repertoire.

North Vista Primary School is using the videogame technology to help teach sports to its students, with two weeks out of each five week session utilizing the Wii. Asia One reports that the high-tech means of physical education is a way for the school to connect with its students, who principal Phua Kia Wang called “digital natives.”

The indoor PE classes also overcome the problem of oppressive heat in the region. Outdoor PE classes were previously limited to early mornings to avoid the heat, now PE classes can be scheduled with impunity throughout the day.

The school has also invested in heart rate monitors for older students to ensure they do not over exert themselves.

The article further notes that researchers from Nanyang Technological University are eying the effect videogames can have on children’s attitudes towards exercise.

A contingent of Latino youth hit Washington late last month to offer some suggestions for health care reform. The topic of video games and the obesity of today's youth did not escape their scrutiny.

The Washington Youth Seminar, a four-day event sponsored by the League of United Latin American Citizens, brought 56 emerging student leaders from the 11th and 12th grade together to discuss issues impacting the Latin community. The students came from across the United States and Puerto Rico. While in Washington, they adopted several positions that they used at talking points with legislators, private institutions and corporate leaders.

Among the 10 talking points:

Increase Physical Activity: Congress should provide incentives to schools to expand physical education classes and keep school gyms open longer. Because obesity increases with the amount of hours spent watching TV and playing video games; TV shows and game manufactures should receive a seal of approval from the government if they alter their content to encourage physical activity. Likewise, businesses could receive a seal of approval if they provided exercise options for their staff. Congress should consider subsidizing gym membership for low income Americans.

Interesting concept. The Wii, Wii Fit, the Balance Board and most exercise games would already get the seal. But the phrase "alter their content" seems to suggest forcing a change in philosophy on how games are made.

To see the full list of suggestions, check out this report on the trip.

Opinion: Getting the government involved in making "suggestions" to companies on how to make games seems like a slippery slope to increased regulation. I've always been a believer that regulation starts at home. Monitor your own kids, watch what they eat, watch what they play and limit their intakes on both. Letting the government play parent never works well.

A story at Green Pixels tackles the topic of game addiction and questions whether it is a serious health threat or just hype by an uninformed media. After numerous mainstream stories trying to use video games as a scapegoat for everything from poor grades to obesity to mass murder, the topic is a legitimate one to address.

The story delves into media coverage and academic studies, as well as the use of the term "addiction":

The word, "addiction" gets tossed around incorrectly in most media outlets. According to psychotherapist and author Dr. Tina Tessina a true addiction is "when the obsession, activity or substance is creating havoc in the person’s life. That is, causing job problems, relationship problems, money problems, or problems with law and is out of control and therefore an addiction."

The article concludes:

At the end of the day, this is a debate that has not been definitely resolved and will likely be something we’ll continue to hear about in the coming years. If you’re worried you or someone you love truly is addicted to games, have that person evaluated by a mental health professional. As for the rest of us, let’s all use common sense in our gaming. Take breaks, don’t skip meals, and don’t call off work to level up your character in WOW.

It's an interesting debate on the topic and the article does a good job of being objective on the issues, rather than the extremes of the gamer side or mainstream side.

Where do your views fall in this debate?

The Office of Naval Research is currently funding a program that uses videogames to treat post-traumatic stress in veterans of the armed forces.

Virtual Iraq, based on the title Full Spectrum Warrior, allows experiences to be tailored to each participant, so they can relive exactly what they went through, reports American Medical News. 3D goggles and a chair with feedback add further realism. So far, 20 participants have undergone treatment using Virtual Iraq with “positive results.” It’s thought that the familiarity of videogames helps lower resistance to being treated.

The article also notes that the United States Air Force is conducting a similar study with virtual reality treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

While some of its games and RROD’s can certainly get a gamer’s heart pumping, a former game developer for Rare has created a way to use Microsoft’s Xbox 360 to examine human hearts for defects.

Simon Scarle leveraged his extremely unique background of game development and electrocardio-dynamics research to modify a chip in the 360 so that it delivers electrical heart data instead of graphics.  The process results in the rendering of a model heart that allows doctors to see any defects or conditions, all this done five times faster and ten times cheaper than similar processes that require super computers reports Time.

Scarle, currently a computer scientist at the University of Warwick in England, told the magazine:

I can see this ... being most useful for students and early-career scientists to just quickly and cheaply grab that extra bit of computing power they otherwise wouldn't be able to get.

More details on exactly how a new facility treats Internet addiction have emerged via an article on the ShanghaiDaily website.

The reStart Internet Addiction Recovery Program, which opened its doors earlier this year in the state of Washington, takes a cold turkey approach to treating Internet addicts and attempts to fill their days with a mix of counseling and daily chores, such as baking cookies.

The program has its first patient, 19-year old Ben Alexander, who said his World of Warcraft addiction caused him to flunk out of the University of Iowa. The center can handle up to six patients at a time, but draws the line at accepting Internet sex addicts, as the retreat’s owner, Psychotherapist Cosette Dawna Rae, lives in the facility with her family.

This story claims the 45-day program costs $14,000, differing from earlier reports that pegged the figure at $45,000.

Last December GamePolitics reported on Pamoja Mtaani, a PC game developed through a partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive, North Carolina-based Virtual Heroes (creators of America's Army) and The Partnership For an HIV-free Generation.

The game's title translates to "Together in the Hood," and Pamoja Mtaani aims to help players learn skills to negotiate difficult issues such as crime and HIV in some of East Africa's most impoverished areas.

GP reader Wai Yen Tang dropped us a line to say that a video report on the game and how it is being used is now available on YouTube.

There have been several studies over the years which have used an MRI to show changes that occur in a gamer’s brain after a bit of play time.
 
Here’s another one.
 
Researchers at the Mind Research Network found that playing Tetris for three months had increased efficiency and beefed up the amount of gray matter in the brains of a group of adolescent girls.  The results, which will be published in BMC Research Notes later this week, showed that focusing on a “challenging visuospatial task” such as a video game could not just increase brain activity but alter the structure of the brain as well by thickening the cortexes.

So, what benefit does a fatter, more efficient brain offer?  According to one of the study’s authors, Dr. Richard Haier, it may be a way to help combat the mental decline that occurs with age.
 
Not bad for an activity many consider to be a waste of time.
 
Via: Wired
 
-Reporting from San Diego, GamePolitics Senior Correspondent Andrew Eisen...

Reports this week that the Center for Disease Control found higher than normal rates of obesity and depression in adult gamers have drawn criticism from some game and tech-oriented observers.

Cnet's Don Reisinger writes:

Due to its small sample size, methods of data collection, and location focus, the study's findings have to be taken with at least one grain of salt.

Moreover, the study found that the majority of those surveyed are overweight, regardless of their gaming patterns.

John Timmer of Ars Technica also sees caveats in the CDC research:

One of the most obvious problems... is that the study is based on survey data gathered online back in 2006... it's important to note (given the conclusions about weight) that the Wii didn't hit the market until the end of that year.

The scope is limited, as well... This limited sample is not a definitive representation of gamers in general, and mainstream reports have ignored the study's own admission to this...

Indeed, western Washington has a climate that's rather unique within the US, one that may influence decisions on indoor vs. outdoor activities... The survey data was also completely dependent on self-assessment... The correlations are curious and more study is needed.

Jordan Lund of GameStooge adds:

When you look at the actual data, the differences aren’t as extreme as you might think. For example, male gamers have an average BMI of 28.05 while non gamers score a 26.55... To put it in relative terms, you’re looking at the difference between Homer Simpson and Krusty the Clown...

Whether your Internet addiction involves online games or plain old web surfing, there's a new treatment option for you.

The Puget Sound Business Journal reports that the reStart Internet Addiction Recovery Program, which opened recently in Fall City, Washington - not too far from Microsoft HQ - is the first facility of its kind in the United States.

How do you know if you have a problem? Take this quiz. reStart's 45-day treatment program will set you - or your healthcare insurer - back about $45,000.

Yesterday, GamePolitics reported on a new study by the Center for Disease Control which indicated that adult video game players are more likely to be depressed and overweight than non-players.

Today, we're reminded that if you don't like the results of a particular study on video games, just wait a while. A new one will be along.

Today's happier news comes by way of the Washington Post. The WaPo reports on publisher-funded research indicating that video games may play a positive role in ameliorating the harmful effects of stress and depression.

Popcap's popular Bejeweled (screenshot at left) comes in for a mention:

In a preliminary study that PopCap commissioned and funded, researchers found that volunteers who played Bejeweled displayed improved mood and heart rhythms... [the] study was published this year in the Annual Review of Cybertherapy and Telemedicine. Now, the company is about to launch a second phase of testing to see if the video games can have measurable effects on clinical markers of depression...
 

Many of these steps are based on the idea that depression and other disorders -- as well as everyday stress and worry -- involve systematic patterns of thought and self-doubt, and that games can distract people and put them in a different mental zone. You don't have to play with a computer or an Xbox 360 to notice the effect: Anyone who has used a crossword puzzle or Sudoku game to decompress after a difficult day recognizes the idea.

Other researchers are testing games as a means of normalizing heart rate patterns through the regulation of emotional responses.

The Center for Disease Control reports that the average adult computer game addict is 35 years old.

According to The Telegraph, the CDC partnered with researchers from Emory and Andrews Universities on the study of more than 500 adults in the Seattle-Tacoma area. The results are not encouraging for gamers, with investigators finding correlations between video game play and health risks:

• Female gamers reported greater depression and poorer health than non-gamers
• Male gamers reported higher BMI (body mass index) than non-gamers
• Gamers of both genders reported a higher than normal reliance on the Internet for social support

The CDC's Dr. James Weaver III commented on the data:

As hypothesized, health-risk factors specifically, a higher BMI and a greater number of poor mental-health days differentiated adult video-game players from non-players.

Video-game players also reported lower extraversion, consistent with research on adolescents that linked video game playing to a sedentary lifestyle and overweight status, and to mental-health concerns.

Internet community support and time spent online distinguished adult video-game players from non-players, a finding consistent with prior research pointing to the willingness of adult video-game enthusiasts to sacrifice real-world social activities to play video games.

The data illustrate the need for further research among adults to clarify how to use digital opportunities more effectively to promote health and prevent disease.

The research will be published in the October, 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, reports Medical News Today.

Earlier this month GamePolitics reported on a study which suggested that excessive video game and T.V. time may be contributing to reduced vitamin D levels in children.

Funny man Stephen Colbert, however, may have the answer. In the clip at left, Colbert recommends using the "VaxBox 360" to play Tan Theft Auto, thus soaking in gobs of vitamin D-producing UV rays.

Okay, so it's funnier when Colbert says it...

If you want to skip ahead to the game-related bits, they begin at about 3:45 into the clip.

Via: Kotaku

Beware the Gamers Flu - it could wipe out humanity.

This fictional malady, which breaks out in China and Japan following a game convention, is one of five viral illnesses that can be tackled in The Great Flu, a new online game created by reserachers at the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands.

The Associated Press reports that the object of the game is to prevent a global pandemic:

To fight the emerging outbreak, players use measures including setting up surveillance systems, stockpiling antivirals and vaccines, and closing schools and airports. Players also have a limited budget and are warned that "your actions to control the virus cost money, so keep an eye on it."

A running tally of the numbers of people infected and those who have died sit above the budget. Newspaper stories about the deadly virus and the global response to it — like riots breaking out worldwide — pop up to help players monitor the outbreak.

After a couple of play-throughs, I found The Great Flu to be a real-time strategy affair which is surprisingly enjoyable despite its chilling subject matter. The game challenges players to make difficult, real-world decisions about the timely allocation of healthcare resources when confronted with a potential pandemic. These choices range from relatively inexpensive options such as public information campaigns and distributing face masks, to tougher calls, including massive investments in vaccine or closing schools and airports. One of the game's key lessons - policy makers, take note - is that an aggressive early intervention can save thousands of lives and billions of dollars.

So how did I fare against the Gamers Flu? Not so well. After just a month, 24,000 people had died around the world and there was rioting in the streets of cities along America's East Coast. The great thing about games, however, is that you can always start again.

Is your handheld game system making you lonely?

Rika Kayama, a Japanese psychiatrist, thinks that it may be.

In an op-ed penned for a Japanese newspaper, Kayama claims that Nintendo's DS and Sony's PSP are partially to blame for a sense of isolation experienced by some of her youthful patients. On that score, Kayama writes:

Today’s youth immerse themselves in worlds of their own right before our eyes, where they can live secluded from the rest of us. Feeding into these one person worlds, personal devices such as mobile phones and handheld game systems like the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS come on to the market one after another.

The ‘make your own world anywhere’ idea has gone too far, to the point that even on the train one sees people shamelessly putting on makeup or eating cups of instant noodles as though the train carriage was their own room. …

I feel that an increasing number of people are coming to my office saying, ‘Even when I’m in a crowd I’m lonely.’ Even when they are at a popular singer’s concert or when reading a best-selling novel, these patients can’t feel any solidarity for those next to them or those reading the same book.

GP: Is Kayama onto something, or is she simply rehashing the old school notion that games are inherently isolating?

Via: What They Play