Studying cognition and mental health using video games

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Video games have enormous potential for research on cognition and mental health and previous research suggests that playing video games can improve visual attention and memory. Here we propose to use video games to perform basic research into a common psychiatric disorder (ADHD), paving the way for improved diagnosis, monitoring and therapy. ADHD is typically diagnosed in childhood and is characterised by failures of attentional state maintenance. Vardal et al have recently shown that subjects switch between attentional states (for example, 'engagement' and 'flow') while playing a cognitively engaging video game (Tetris). These state switches can be identified from both behavioural and neuroimaging data. I will build on this finding and use a cutting-edge neuroimaging technique (OPM-MEG) to measure brain states in a wide range of video game players with and without ADHD. The ultimate goal is to use video games to understand how mental health impacts people's ability to focus on cognitively demanding tasks and, potentially, to develop therapeutic intervention.