Therapy Through Tetris? We're Convinced Enough to Try!
Before we share the research. We read enough in these research papers from academics to believe in exploring the connection between Tetris and Therapy. And so, early in 2019, we will launch a version of Tetris activated by physical movement. We can't wait to see what where combining problem solving with physical gestures takes us. Tetris is fun anyway, will this make it more fun? Happy reading!
According to scientists, playing the famous game Tetris could produce positive effects on health, or even be a solution to some health problems including related to visual memory.
Here are some excerpts from articles that I find interesting about this:
In this BBC article written by Michelle Roberts, we learn that the visual concept of the game (colours, shapes and movements) would make it really effective in therapy.
“Scientists say it's Tetris's immersive simplicity that makes it a potentially powerful therapeutic tool. [...] Prof Holmes has just published a study that shows Tetris therapy may lessen the psychological impact of traumatic events.”
Based on serious research by Emily A. Holmes, Ella L. James, Thomas Coode-Bate and Catherine Deeprose for NCBI, the game "Tetris" could be an effective remedy to help people who have experienced a traumatic event to reduce the frequency of their flashbacks.
"Trauma flashbacks are sensory-perceptual, visuospatial mental images. Visuospatial cognitive tasks selectively compete for resources required to generate mental images. Thus, a visuospatial computer game (e.g. “Tetris”) will interfere with flashbacks [...] playing “Tetris” half an hour after viewing trauma would reduce flashback frequency over 1-week."
Alissa Sauer tells us about a study done on older people in this article about Video Games for Brain Health.
“A recent study conducted by researchers at King’s College London found that mental exercises in the form of brain training can improve the daily lives of people over 60 and boost certain aspects of cognition for people over 50. The study included nearly 7,000 people over the age of 50.”
In this 4th article, Morgan Shaver highlights the benefits of the game Tetris in the therapeutic environment: "for post-traumatic stress disorder, but also for a variety of other mental conditions as well. These include depression, which causes an extreme state of melancholy capable of disrupting everyday life, and anxiety, which often results in crippling panic attacks. With scientists finding new correlations between video games and removing patients from mental strain, Tetris could be at the forefront of alternative medicine.”
We believe that this game could be a good additional tool to help brain function. We are absolutely delighted that this famous fun game could be an effective treatment for many people and we look forward to introducing you to our version.
By Lucie Gonzalez (Guest Blogger and Researcher)
