美國：電子遊戲成兒童多動症“良藥”

孩子患有多動症，注意力不集中怎麼辦？或許你可以試着讓孩子打打電子遊戲。美國於2020年批准了第一款用於治療兒童多動症的電子遊戲，效果居然比吃藥還顯著。

The EndeavorRx game sees the user race around the universe (Credit: Akili)

While many parents worry that their children spend too much time playing computer games, Kelcey Sihanourath is pleased to see her son Owain pick up his tablet.

雖然當下很多父母都為孩子花太多時間玩電子遊戲感到煩惱，但凱爾希·西哈努拉特很高興看到兒子歐文拿起平板電腦打遊戲。

Now aged 13, he was diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in pre-school.

現年13歲的歐文在幼兒園時被診斷出患有多動症（注意力缺陷多動障礙）。

Since then, the family, who live in the US city of Savannah, Georgia, have taken Owain to see occupational therapists to help him better cope with everyday life tasks.

從那時起，這個居住在美國喬治亞州薩凡納市的家庭便經常帶着歐文去看職業理療師，幫助他更好地應對日常生活中的任務。

They also tried the medication route, but had to stop after the prescribed drugs exacerbated the boy's regular migraines, and made him sick.

他們也嘗試過吃藥，但最終不得不放棄了，因為處方藥加劇了歐文定期發作的偏頭疼症狀，讓他噁心想吐。

With ADHD continuing to affect Owain's school performance over the years, Kelcey says she was "hoping for something more, for any other option".

由於過去這些年多動症持續影響歐文的學業表現，凱爾希表示“希望能有一些別的療法可選擇”。

"I could see him struggling to understand why he was not able to focus, and the frustration he had when he tried so hard and would still get distracted," she says. "It broke my heart, but I felt trapped and completely useless."

她説：“我能看出他很想知道自己為什麼不能集中注意力，也能明白他努力嘗試但仍會分心的那種挫敗感。我很心痛，但我感覺自己像是被困住了一樣，什麼忙也幫不上。”

Help came in the end from what initially seems very incongruous - a computer game called EndeavorRx.

最終，一款起初看似不合時宜的名為EndeavorRx的電子遊戲居然幫上了忙。

In 2020 it became the first such game to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the treatment of ADHD in children.

EndeavorRx在2020年獲得美國食品和藥物管理局的批准，成為了第一款用於治療兒童多動症的電子遊戲。

Currently only available on prescription from doctors in the US, EndeavorRx at first glance looks very similar to countless other games. You control a little alien that races on a spaceship through different worlds having to collect things.

EndeavorRx乍看之下與其他無數電子遊戲很類似。在這款遊戲中，玩家控制一個開飛船穿梭於不同世界的小外星人來收集各種物品。該遊戲目前只能通過美國醫生開具處方獲得。

The EndeavorRx game is only available on prescription (Credit: Akili)

But the app-based game was developed in conjunction with neuroscientists, and is designed to stimulate and improve areas of the brain that play a key role in attention function.

這款與神經學家聯合開發的遊戲應用是用來刺激和改善對注意力功能起關鍵作用的大腦區域的。

The idea is that it trains a child with ADHD to both better multitask and ignore distractions, with a computer algorithm measuring his or her performance and customising the difficulty of the game in real time.

該遊戲的原理是通過電腦算法衡量玩家的表現，並根據其表現實時變更遊戲難度，訓練那些患有多動症的孩子更好地處理多個任務，不再分心。

Kelcey says she was "a little sceptical", but at the end of 2020 Owain started a three-month programme, playing the game for 25 minutes a day. He then did another round last year.

凱爾希説自己最初對遊戲療法“有點懷疑”，但在2020年底歐文開始了為期三個月的療程，每天玩25分鐘這款遊戲。去年他又重複了一個療程。

"He admitted it was a little harder than he expected," she says. "But he understood that he was doing it to help improve his focus. He remained super motivated despite the difficulties and frustrations that came along with it."

凱爾希説：“他承認玩這款遊戲比他預想的要難一些，但他明白他這樣做是為了幫助自己提高注意力。因此儘管遊戲過程中伴隨着困難與挫折，他仍然保持着超強的動力。”

After each of Owain's sessions she noted his daily behaviour in the app, and tracked his progress.

歐文每次遊戲結束後，凱爾希都會在應用程序中記錄他的日常行為，追蹤他的進展。

Soon she started to see small, positive changes in his behaviour. For example, getting ready for school had become smoother, and there were no negative messages from teachers.

她很快發覺他的行為舉止發生了細小、積極的變化。比如，為上學做準備的過程變得更加順利，老師那邊也沒有傳來負面訊息。

And after failing fifth grade, Owain subsequently shot up to getting As and Bs for his work.

隨後，五年級不及格的歐文在學業上取得了A和B的好成績。

"It has been amazing to see my son so successful, but more so, seeing him have confidence in himself," Kelcey says. "He is no longer upset and confused about why he just does not get it."

凱爾希説：“看到兒子如此成功讓我很驚喜，但更讓我高興的是他現在有了自信心，他不再為自己為什麼做不到而感到沮喪和困惑了。”

Eddie Martucci, chief executive of Akili, the Boston-based tech firm behind EndeavorRx, says the game has been designed to boost cognitive progressing.

開發EndeavorRx 遊戲的波士頓科技公司 Akili 的首席執行官艾迪·馬爾圖齊表示，設計這款遊戲的初衷就是促進認知進步。

"It is something that's very difficult to get through molecular means, like taking a pill. But it turns out that sensory stimuli can actually directly stimulate parts of the brain controlling cognitive function."

他表示：“認知功能是很難通過吃藥等分子學手段來提升的。但事實證明，感官刺激方法可以直接刺激大腦中控制認知功能的部位。”

他的公司計劃未來幾年內在歐洲推出這款遊戲。