The good news is that the poor kids haven’t suffered brain damage; they simply haven’t received the same mental stimulation as their wealthier peers. To combat poor brain development at an early age, neuroscientists are creating video games that specifically develop prefrontal cortex functions in school age kids. I have to admit, I’m curious what kind of games will result from this effort. My generation had The (original) Oregon Trail and Carmen San Diego. Are these games no good? Admittedly, we spent most of our time naming our pioneer families after people we didn’t like and trying to kill them off with cholera or trying to shoot 5,000 pounds of meat when we could only bring 500 pounds back with us, but we learned something. Right? While companies like LeapFrog have long been in the good-for-you gaming market, these new games are novel in that they target a specific region of the brain, and they are being developed with the goal of closing the cognitive development, and socioeconomic, gaps. Willing to bet on what the best selling video game of 2008 will be? Put your PopMoney where your mouth is on the PopSci Predictions Exchange (PPX)
