Can playing video games lead to life-saving insights? Yes, if you have Parkinson’s disease and someone can monitor your brain waves, researchers behind an upcoming project believe.
The study will analyze 200 people living with Parkinson’s before, during and after brain surgery.
Implanted electrodes will transmit data on motor function, and the researchers will be able to see how effective treatment is going by watching the patients play the video games, which require a joystick.
Impaired motor function is one of the main symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, which affects approximately 1 million Americans. An overwhelming majority — 90% — of people living with Parkinson’s are aged 60 or more years, according to the National Institute on Aging. In addition, approximately one fourth of people living with Parkinson’s live in senior living communities or nursing homes.
“We know Parkinson’s is a terminal disease, but we want to give people a better quality of life, and a longer life,” lead researcher Vasileios Chirstopoulos, PhD, said in a statement, adding that, for some people living with Parkinson’s, “every action is like driving a car with their foot on the brakes.”
The National Institutes of Health is awarding $5 million in grant money to the research, which is being led by a team at the University of California, Riverside, and will run for five years.
Implanted electrodes are part of a treatment method for Parkinson’s known as deep brain stimulation, an intense intervention often used only after drugs have proven ineffective.
Over the course of the study, data coming from the participants and their video gameplay will help the research team build a mathematical model of the brain, which will in turn allow for further research into possible treatments, the researchers stated.
