¢PACMAN FOR THERAPY?¢by Kevin Cooke¢¢ OK, we've all played Pacman, haven't we? And we've all used the excuse to our mum / wife / girlfriend(s) / pet hamster... "It's not a bad influence - it's good for my reactions", haven't we? Well, now we can dispose of that evil lie and tell our friends and relatives a real fact!¢¢PACMAN CAN BE USED TO TREAT A CONDITION CALLED "ATTENTION DEFICIT AND CONDUCT DISORDER" (hereafter known as ADACD!).¢¢ So what is ADACD? Well, some signs of ADACD (especially in children) could be a lack of normal feelings or emotions, violent behaviour towards animals and siblings, a lack of concentration, hyper-activity and a terrible sense of time (e.g. did they play with their cars two minutes or eight house ago?). [Note: A child suffering from these symptoms does not necessarily have ADACD - it only affects a few people. Don't worry yourself!].¢¢ The disorder is caused by consistant abnormality in the electricity of the brain - there is a low level of arousal in the frontal cortex. It is thought that this condition can be caused at birth if the baby's brain gets a lack of oxygen. The low arousal in the brain delays fear and so makes it almost unnoticable.¢¢ But what has all this got to do with Pacman being used for treatment? Well, if the patient is hooked up to a computer and their brain patterns are evaluated, they can actually play Pacman "hands-free"! The more focus the patient shows, the faster the Pacman moves and so the quicker it completes levels and avoids the ghosts.¢¢ So now you know. I wonder if I could REALLY convince my parents that my Atari is good for my reactions afterall?!!¢
