• Dance Dance Revolution
• In the Groove

[Two videos follow at the end of the article]

Both are music video games that may improve your ability to
concentrate as well as increase your intelligence. The research that
supports this view basically comes from the work done with Synchronized
Metronome Tapping (SMT), a technique that seeks to develop the rhythm and timing circuitry of the brain.

Rhythm and Timing involves multiple brain regions such as the:

• cerebellum
• basal ganglia
• frontal lobes
• thalamus
• motor cortex
• temporal lobes
• sensory cortex
• corpus callosum

Additionally, the crucial neural pathways that interconnect these structures and enable them to communicate with each other are also invoked.

Importantly, several scientific studies have been published on the beneficial effects of SMT; these include:

• A recent exploratory study presented at the learning & Brain
  Conference at Harvard in 2005 revealed that SMT treatment resulted in a
  7-20% greater growth in reading and math achievement
• A study involving 9 to 12 year old boys diagnosed with ADHD showed significant patterns of improvement in attention, coordination, reading and language processing
• A study involving 1500 middle and high school students showed significant increases in reading fluency and math fluency
• A study of 360 9th and 10th graders showed higher scores in
  broad reading, reading fluency, and math calculation skills. Math
  fluency and attention also improved significantly.

[The above were taken from the Interactive Metronome website, which also features other studies showing its cognitive benefits].

If you’d like to see a video of SMT in action via the Interactive Metronome (a commercial product) click here.

As you can see from the video link above, Interactive metronome
training doesn’t look too exciting or like very much fun. And it costs
about $1500 for 15 sessions. Above 15 sessions, the cost runs $80 per
session.

Now, what I suspect is that games like Dance Dance Revolution and In the Groove pack many of the same brain benefits as the Interactive Metronome and SMT, but would:

• cost much less(home versions are available on the Playstation and Xbox)
• be a heck of a lot more fun (you can practice with real music, colorful graphics, and can play with friends)
• Would probably be even more effective, as you’re not only utilizing
  sound for rhythm and timing, but also incorporating visual systems
  (i.e. via the ’step arrows’-see videos below).

Interestingly, there’s been a lot of buzz in the media over the past year about how DDR and ITG games are also being used as fun ways to aerobically exercise and lose weight.

Furthermore, over 756 state schools will be installing DDR games in house as part of their fitness programs [Wikipedia].

Additionally, some universities are also allowing students to fulfill their physical education requirements with these machines.

If you’d like to see these games in action, and compare it to SMT, enjoy these videos:

Dance Dance Revolution: (toward the end of the video, this guy’s feet move inhumanly fast)

In the Groove: (in the U.S., this game seems to be overtaking DDR in popularity).