Brain Games as a Potential Nonpharmaceutical Alternative for the Treatment of ADHD

Wegrzyn, S. C. (2012). Brain Games as a Potential Nonpharmaceutical Alternative for the Treatment of ADHD. Journal Of Research On Technology In Education, 45(2), 107-130.

According to Wegrzyn (2012), "Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed childhood neurobehavioral disorder, affecting approximately 5.5 million children between the ages of 4 and 17." However, of these 5.5 million, 20% do not respond to the commonly prescribed stimulate medications (p. 107). Due to this fact, Wegryzn and her team decided to research and test a new alternative for students with ADHD: brain games. One of the believed causes of ADHD is a lack of activity in the prefrontal cortex. Recent research states that activities such as "rapid mathematical calculations and reading aloud" can greatly increase activity in this section of the brain and have proven beneficial for patients with dementia (Wegrzyn, 2012, p. 108). In this article, Wegrzyn had students, ages 10 to 17, that were previously diagnosed with Combined or Inattentive ADHD play at least twenty minutes of BrainAge, a Nintendo DS video game, everyday before going to school. Through student and parent journals, as well as EEG testing, Wegrzyn was able to test the effectiveness of this alternative treatment option for students with ADHD. After five weeks of treatment, the students returned to their normal routine, not playing any brain games for three weeks. When this post-treatment period ended, Wegrzyn began to analyze all the compiled data. According to Wegrzyn (2012), the participant journals revealed that "six of the nine participants who kept journals showed patterns of increased engagement during the treatment period." The students saw "a positive difference in their ability to focus, pay attention, concentrate, or engage in class" (p. 118). The parents also witnessed similar changes, stating that "9 out of 10 parents saw an improvement in one or more symptoms of their child's ADHD" (p. 118). During the post-treatment period, both students and parents noticed a "decreased engagement" and "a negative change in one or more of the symptoms of ADHD" (p. 118). 

I found this article and Wegrzyn's research to be very interesting and enlightening. I was previously unaware that such a large percentage of children with ADHD do not respond to the commonly prescribed medication. From the ADHD: Fact or Fiction video, I learned that medication is only part of a treatment program for someone with ADHD, also including aspects such as diet, stress-control, therapy, and coaching. I believe that for some students, brain games could be another effective component. During my student teaching, I worked with one such student, a high school junior with inattentive ADHD. I regularly witnessed this student, like many other students, on his phone and iPod sneakily trying to play games during downtime or passing periods. I found these transition times between classes challenging because this student, and others without ADHD, often lost focus from one class to the next and it could be difficult to get everyone quickly back on track during in the beginning of the class period. Because of this previous interest in video games and the lack of focus after a transition, I believe using brain games either before school or during breaks could have been a viable option. Not only do I believe this student could have benefitted from this activity, but I believe many of my students without ADHD could have benefitted from brain games. I could also see brain games being beneficial in my current classroom at Elim. While our students are not diagnosed with ADHD, many of them struggle with focusing during class due to a variety of learning disabilities. Some effective strategies we use to promote attentiveness and to help the students concentrate include incorporating technology into lessons as well as breaking up our day into short blocks of time for each activity. Since many of students use the computers at school and already enjoy playing video games, adding brain games as one of our activities during centers, individual work, or free time could be a beneficial in the classroom and enjoyable for the students.

I found Wegrzyn's research and her conclusions to be a very practical and useful, not only for teachers but also for parents. I have heard many parents state that they worry about putting their children on medication for ADHD because of the myth that it causes children to become zombie-like. While the video, ADHD: Fact or Fiction, puts these rumors to rest, for parents that are still worried, brain games could be a possible non-pharmaceutical treatment option or component in their treatment plan. For the classroom, brain games could be an inexpensive and interesting way to promote engagement. Wegrzyn's study used Brain Age for the Nintendo DS. A used Nintendo DS and the Brain Age game together costs about 80 dollars. While I don't believe it is a practical idea that schools would provide such equipment for each student, it possible that they may be willing to purchase a few sets for a classroom. If not, many students may already own a Nintendo DS, significantly cutting down the cost. Other ideas such as donations or fundraising could also help in the acquiring the games. The article suggests that teachers could allow students to play the Nintendo DS during homeroom, lunch, recess, or other breaks during the day and then monitor any changes in the student's ability to focus. As Wegrzyn (2012) states, "liability is not an issue, considering that, even if the games did not help the child's engagement, they would at least provide the educational benefit of practicing basic math facts, memorization, and reading skills" (p. 125). Even if it were impossible to afford the video game, there are countless websites, including cnn.com, aarp.com, and many others, that host similar and free brain games. 

I believe the biggest weakness point of the article was limiting size and span of the study. Wegrzyn's study only included ten students with ADHD, ages 10 to 17, and lasted only eight weeks, five of which were for the actual treatment. While study was significantly helpful for these students, I would like to see a similar experiment done on a larger scale with various groups. Would brain games be as successful for students with ADHD that also have other disabilities? The article also states that even though the students felt an improvement, because the treatment only lasted 5 weeks, it was "just not enough time for the improvement to carry over into the classroom (Wegrzyn, 2012, p. 126). A longer study would allow the actual classroom impact to be monitored through grades and teacher observations. 

Overall, I found the article to be very interesting and useful in providing alternative methods to help students with ADHD focus and become in engaged in the classroom. I could see myself and other teachers I know easily incorporating brain game activities, with or without the actual Nintendo DS game used in the study, into the daily classroom routine. I believe that these brain game activities would help not only the students with ADHD, but other students as well due to their quick and fun approach.