Project Description

Challenge

People with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) tend to struggle with executive functioning—a set of cognitive processes that include working memory, flexible thinking, and planning. To help improve this skill set, a “serious game” is in development.

Project Summary

Previously called Cognitive Carnival, Caribbean Quest is a computer game that was rooted in neuroscience, with the understanding that if the brain engages in a particular skill repeatedly, the neuropathways that support that skill will strengthen and connections in the brain will rewire. Caribbean Quest is hierarchical, meaning being successful in the game starts by requiring easier aspects of executive functioning (i.e., sustaining attention for a few seconds) and moves to more challenging skills.

The Caribbean Quest is similar to a typical video game, with participants exploring a mythical world and completing tasks to collect rewards (“treasures”) along the way. As the child plays, the games they are playing successively require higher levels of cognitive control and executive functioning. Three new exercises have been added to Caribbean Quest, for a total of five “games.” It is administered in a school setting by educational assistants and has expanded beyond FASD to include children with autism.

Result

Studies of children ages 6 to 13 have been ongoing to determine how to make the game as useful as possible. Participates engage in 45-minute sessions three times a week, and preliminary results show initial improvements on several measurements of working memory.

The team will continue to carry out studies to modify Caribbean Quest, with a recent grant going towards the development of a new component that will test attention shifting and flexibility. The ultimate goal is to have an accessible and affordable therapeutic video game for children with FASD and autism.

Team

Investigators

Kimberly Kerns, University of Victoria
Bruce Gooch, University of Victoria
Jacqueline Pei, University of Alberta
Carmen Rasmussen, University of Alberta
Christian Beaulieu, University of Alberta

Collaborators

Dr. Jonathan Down, Vancouver Island Health Authority