Gaming, Attention, and Mental Health

This chapter explores the effects of violent video games, linking them to negative behaviors while advocating for non-violent gaming for children. It delves into attention mechanisms, particularly the differences between bottom-up and top-down attention, and how technology complicates focus, especially for individuals with ADHD. Furthermore, it highlights the FDA-approved video game Endeavor RX, designed to improve attention in children, and discusses its implications in mental health treatment for both children and adults.

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If you struggle with retaining sharp focus or have been diagnosed with ADHD or other conditions that impede your brain from functioning at its optimal level, this is the podcast episode for you. We learn about a (literally) out-of-the-box solution to attention training—video games. Yes, you read that right.

Our guest today, Dr. Adam Gazzaley, holds an M.D. and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Mount Sinai School of Medicine and completed Neurology residency at the University of Pennsylvania, followed by postdoctoral training in cognitive neuroscience at UC Berkeley. He's currently the David Dolby Distinguished Professor at UC San Francisco and the Founder/Executive Director of Neuroscape, a center focusing on technology-driven scientific research. So it’s safe to say that Adam is not your prototypical basement gamer.

As someone who struggled with focus and attention due to Asperger’s syndrome and brain fog due to the effects of toxic mold exposure, figuring out how to retrain my brain to be able to retain more information and focus longer was one of the first areas of biohacking I ever explored. This is why I’m so excited to be talking all about Endeavor Rx today, the world's first FDA-authorized prescription video game treatment for pediatric ADHD—and Endeavor OTC, for adults who struggle with ADHD, focus, attention, and distraction.

We explore how we can measure attention and improvement in focus, the biological systems that control what we focus on consciously and subconsciously, the role of nutrition in our ability to focus, the underlying technology of Endeavor, measuring its effectiveness, and Adam’s vision for how we can use biosensing technology—now and in the future—to optimize awareness, focus, mood, and more.

(03:07) Addressing Modern Attention Challenges

• Defining our attention systems and how to measure them

• How I learned how to pay attention, even with ADHD

• Read: The Distracted Mind by Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen

• Tools we have for addressing attention challenges

• What I use now for brain function and focus

• The role nutrition plays in being able to focus

• What typical of video games can aid in training attention

• The potential negative effects of shooter games

(20:37) Understanding Endeavor: How to Train Attention Using a Video Game

• Top down vs. bottom up thinking

• Endeavor: the video game that trains your attention