Neurotherapeutic video game for improving spatiotemporal cognition

Abstract

The disclosed embodiments relate to a system that uses a video game to improve spatial and/or temporal information-processing capabilities of a user. During operation, the system enables the user to play the video game. During execution of the video game, the system first measures spatial and/or temporal information-processing capabilities of the user during the course of playing the video game. Next, the system uses the measured spatial and/or temporal information-processing capabilities to control a spatial placement and/or a temporal presentation rate of target items that the user is required to respond to during subsequent game play to stimulate enhancement of the user's spatial and/or temporal information-processing capabilities.

1 . A method for using a video game to improve spatial and/or temporal information-processing capabilities of a user, the method comprising:
 enabling the user to play the video game, wherein the video game operates by:   measuring a quality of mental representations of spatial and/or temporal information by the user during the course of playing the video game; and   using the measured quality of mental representations of spatial and/or temporal information by the user to control a spatial placement and/or a temporal presentation rate of target items that the user is required to respond to during subsequent game play to stimulate enhancement of the user's spatial and/or temporal information-processing capabilities.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein controlling the spatial placement and/or the temporal presentation rate of the target items includes adaptively controlling the spatial placement and/or the temporal presentation rate based on ongoing measurements of the spatial and/or temporal information-processing capabilities of the user. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein measuring the quality of mental representations of spatial information by the user includes determining a spatial crowding threshold for the user based on how far apart in visual angle two target items can be while still being mentally represented as distinct unitary items by the user. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein measuring the quality of mental representations of temporal information by the user includes determining a temporal crowding threshold for the user based on how short a duration between appearances of two target items can be while still being mentally represented as distinct unitary items by the user. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein adaptively controlling the spatial placement and/or the temporal presentation rate includes:
 presenting the target items so that spatially distributed and temporally proximate target items are initially presented within the determined spatial and/or temporal crowding thresholds of the user; and then   adaptively presenting the target items close to the spatial and/or temporal crowding thresholds of the user to stimulate enhancement of spatial and/or temporal functional abilities of the user.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein adaptively presenting the target items close to the spatial and/or temporal crowding thresholds of the user involves adaptively controlling an amount of stimulation provided to the user to an optimally adaptive level. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein adaptively presenting the target items close to the spatial and/or temporal crowding thresholds of the user involves:
 increasing spatial distances measured in degrees of visual angle between target items when the user successfully responds to less than a threshold percentage of preceding target items;   decreasing spatial distances measured in degrees of visual angle between target items when the user successfully responds to a threshold percentage of preceding target items;   decreasing a duration between appearances of target items when the user successfully responds to a threshold percentage of preceding target items; and   increasing a duration between appearances of target items when the user successfully responds to less than a threshold percentage of preceding target items.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein prior to enabling the user to play the video game, the method further comprises performing a calibration step to calibrate a visual angle between target items that are presented on a display for the video game. 
     
     
         9 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for using a video game to improve spatial and/or temporal information-processing capabilities of a user, the method comprising:
 enabling the user to play the video game, wherein the video game operates by:
 measuring a quality of mental representations of spatial and/or temporal information by the user during the course of playing the video game; and 
 using the measured quality of mental representations of spatial and/or temporal information by the user to control a spatial placement and/or a temporal presentation rate of target items that the user is required to respond to during subsequent game play to stimulate enhancement of the user's spatial and/or temporal information-processing capabilities. 
   
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein controlling the spatial placement and/or the temporal presentation rate of the target items includes adaptively controlling the spatial placement and/or the temporal presentation rate based on ongoing measurements of the spatial and/or temporal information-processing capabilities of the user. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein measuring the quality of mental representations of spatial information by the user includes determining a spatial crowding threshold for the user based on how far apart in visual angle two target items can be while still being mentally represented as distinct unitary items by the user. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 11 , wherein measuring the quality of mental representations of temporal information by the user includes determining a temporal crowding threshold for the user based on how short a duration between appearances of two target items can be while still being mentally represented as distinct unitary items by the user. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein adaptively controlling the spatial placement and/or the temporal presentation rate includes:
 presenting the target items so that spatially distributed and temporally proximate target items are initially presented above the determined spatial and/or temporal crowding thresholds of the user; and then   adaptively presenting the target items close to the spatial and/or temporal crowding thresholds of the user to stimulate enhancement of spatial and/or temporal functional abilities of the user.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein adaptively presenting the target items close to the spatial and/or temporal crowding thresholds of the user involves adaptively controlling an amount of stimulation provided to the user to an optimally adaptive level. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14 , wherein adaptively presenting the target items close to the spatial and/or temporal crowding thresholds of the user involves:
 increasing spatial distances measured in degrees of visual angle between target items when the user successfully responds to less than a threshold percentage of preceding target items;   decreasing spatial distances measured in degrees of visual angle between target items when the user successfully responds to a threshold percentage of preceding target items;   
       decreasing a duration between appearances of target items when the user successfully responds to a threshold percentage of preceding target items; and
 increasing a duration between appearances of target items when the user successfully responds to less than a threshold percentage of preceding target items. 
 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein prior to enabling the user to play the video game, the method further comprises performing a calibration step to calibrate a visual angle between target items that are presented on a display for the video game. 
     
     
         17 . A system that uses a video game to improve spatial and/or temporal information-processing capabilities of a user, comprising:
 at least one processor and at least one associated memory; and   a game-processing mechanism that executes on the at least one processor, wherein during operation, the game-processing mechanism:
 enables the user to play the video game, wherein the video game operates by: 
 measuring a quality of mental representations of spatial and/or temporal information by the user during the course of playing the video game; and 
 using the measured quality of mental representations of spatial and/or temporal information by the user to control a spatial placement and/or a temporal presentation rate of target items that the user is required to respond to during subsequent game play to stimulate enhancement of the user's spatial and/or temporal information-processing capabilities. 
   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein while controlling the spatial placement and/or the temporal presentation rate of the target items, the game-processing mechanism adaptively controls the spatial placement and/or the temporal presentation rate based on ongoing measurements of the spatial and/or temporal information-processing capabilities of the user. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein while measuring the quality of mental representations of spatial information by the user, the game-processing mechanism determines a spatial crowding threshold for the user based on how far apart in visual angle two target items can be while still being mentally represented as distinct unitary items by the user. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein while measuring the quality of mental representations of temporal information by the user, the game-processing mechanism determines a temporal crowding threshold for the user based on how short a duration between appearances of two target items can be while still being mentally represented as distinct unitary items by the user. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein while adaptively controlling the spatial placement and/or the temporal presentation rate, the game-processing mechanism:
 presents the target items so that spatially distributed and temporally proximate target items are initially presented within the determined spatial and/or temporal crowding thresholds of the user; and then   adaptively presents the target items close to the spatial and/or temporal crowding thresholds of the user to stimulate enhancement of spatial and/or temporal functional abilities of the user.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein while adaptively presenting the target items close to the spatial and/or temporal crowding thresholds of the user, the game-processing mechanism adaptively controls an amount of stimulation provided to the user to an optimally adaptive level. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein while adaptively presenting the target items close to the spatial and/or temporal crowding thresholds of the user, the game-processing mechanism:
 increases spatial distances measured in degrees of visual angle between target items when the user successfully responds to less than a threshold percentage of preceding target items;   decreases spatial distances measured in degrees of visual angle between target items when the user successfully responds to a threshold percentage of preceding target items;   decreases a duration between appearances of target items when the user successfully responds to a threshold percentage of preceding target items; and   increases a duration between appearances of target items when the user successfully responds to less than a threshold percentage of preceding target items.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein prior to enabling the user to play the video game, the game-processing mechanism performs a calibration step to calibrate a visual angle between target items that are presented on a display for the video game. 
     
     
         25 . A method for using a video game to improve spatial information-processing capabilities of a user, the method comprising:
 enabling the user to play the video game, wherein the video game operates by:
 measuring a quality of mental representations of spatial information by the user during the course of playing the video game; and 
 using the measured quality of mental representations of spatial information by the user to control a spatial placement of target items that the user is required to respond to during subsequent game play to stimulate enhancement of the user's spatial information-processing capabilities. 
   
     
     
         26 . A method for using a video game to improve temporal information-processing capabilities of a user, the method comprising:
 enabling the user to play the video game, wherein the video game operates by:
 measuring a quality of mental representations of temporal information by the user during the course of playing the video game; and 
 using the measured quality of mental representations of temporal information by the user to control a temporal presentation rate of target items that the user is required to respond to during subsequent game play to stimulate enhancement of the user's temporal information-processing capabilities.