If you have ever observed a competitive Tetris player in the midst of the game, you may have noticed that there is a certain rhythm which the player adopts. The way the blocks are spun and placed down begin to follow a certain flow, not much different from the beat of a song. In a recent study conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, it is revealed that patients diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from witnessing extreme violence had a significant reduction of symptoms and increase in hippocampal brain matter when their treatment plan had included playing Tetris once a day over a period of time (1).
Participants in the study had very recent exposure to a traumatic event while serving in the German Federal Armed Forces. Prompt treatment following exposure to the traumatic event had been essential to the study, as the study aimed at diminishing the consolidation of the traumatic memory. One group of discharged individuals was instructed to play Tetris for an hour a day and for 25 minutes following an intrusive memory in addition to treatment with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. A control group had only been treated for PTSD with EMDR therapy. After 6 months of treatment, the Tetris group had a greater remission of PTSD symptoms, particularly anxiety, than did the non-Tetris group according to before and after questionnaire results. Furthermore, MRI neuroimaging revealed that the Tetris group had an increase in hippocampal volume that the non-Tetris group did not demonstrate.
Recently, I had the honor to sit in on a talk by Dr. Jennifer Krizman at Loyola University Chicago. She was discussing her work on auditory processing changes in children that have sustained concussions while playing a sport (2). Her study showed that children who had recently sustained concussions had issues with processing fundamental frequencies in speech, which is the primary pitch produced by a sound. When exposed to an auditory stimulus, the frequency-following response (FFR) that is produced in the brain is weakened in children with concussions, diminishing their understanding of speech and lowering overall synchrony in brain function.
Dr. Krizman began to discuss how having a concussion disrupted the rhythmic capabilities of patients, and that the very brain processes that are hindered by concussion are seen to be enhanced in musicians. People who were better at holding a rhythm also showed advantages in ability to encode sound. Dr. Krizman emphasized the importance of rhythm in our fundamental tasks as humans, explaining that rhythm is essential to life, such as with circadian rhythms and auditory processing. She shared that rhythm training in concussed individuals yielded promising results with alleviating concussion symptoms, so much so that it could be used as a potential concussion treatment.
I found this information particularly interesting, thinking back to the study about PTSD treatment with Tetris. In both scenarios, rhythmic experiences had the ability to support brain growth in a way that allowed individuals to recover from brain trauma. This poses the question whether there are other rhythmic experiences that may be a viable supplement for brain trauma treatment, PTSD or not. Perhaps rhythm games other than Tetris could be beneficial to brain recovery following trauma, such as Guitar Hero and others. Some individuals may benefit from more physical rhythmic activities such as dance or learning a new instrument. This prospect of rhythm as treatment for trauma opens up many doors for discovery and life-changing care. Without a doubt, it is something worth looking into.
References
(1) Butler, Oisin, et al. “Trauma, treatment and Tetris: Video gaming increases hippocampal volume in male patients with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder.” Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, vol. 45, no. 4, July 2020, pp. 279–287, https://doi.org/10.1503/jpn.190027.
(2) Kraus, Nina, et al. “Auditory biological marker of concussion in children.” Scientific Reports, vol. 6, no. 1, 22 Dec. 2016, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep39009.
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