Indication criteria
At this moment, Braingame Brian can be used with children with ADHD, aged eight to twelve, who have problems with executive functions. Difficulties with executive functions concern problems with working memory (retaining information), inhibition (regaining self-control), cognitive flexibility (quickly switching in changing situations), planning and organizing, and regulation of emotions.
For children with other difficulties, where executive functioning problems may be underlying, Braingame Brian can only be used within the context of an efficacy study or with the explicit approval of the Gaming and Training Foundation.
Application
The Braingame Brian training is indicated and supervised by certified trainers. (See below: Information for Trainers)
Therapeutic support
After contact with one of the certified trainers it is important that the child has been (neuro)psychologically diagnosed with difficulties in executive functions.
There are 5 contacts with the BB-trainer. They consist of (1) a start-up meeting (intake + instruction session) at the clinic, (2) three sessions at the child’s home where the trainer/therapist coaches the child through the first training session; the parent is present also. The child’s start-level is set at the end of this first session and, finally, an external reward system is discussed with child and parent (the other two contacts are around session 10 and session 20 and may be conducted by telephone), and (3) an evaluation session at the clinic.
Braingame Brian as part of a multimodal treatment
The Braingame Brian training is considered an addition to treatments for children with ADHD which have been proven effective, such as psycho-education, parent training, teacher training and medication. Braingame Brian is not intended as a stand-alone treatment. The trainers who apply Braingame Brain are required to be able to provide a multimodal treatment. For some children, behavioral treatment is combined with medication. However, it is possible for most children to complete Braingame Brian without medication.
Measurement
Prior to the training standardized questionnaires may be administered. For children with ADHD questionnaires for assessing disruptive behavior symptoms (e.g., the DBDRS, Pelham et al., 1992; parent and teacher versions) and for assessing executive functions (e.g., the BRIEF, Gioia et al. 2002; parent and teacher versions) may be administered Our evaluation study has shown both questionnaires to be relevant (van der Oord et al., 2012).
Participation of client in treatment module Braingame Brian
For Braingame Brian, a fee is required of 250 euros per client, excluding tax. This fee has to be payed to the Foundation before the start of the training. The revenues will be spent on adding improvements to the EF-training tasks and the game world, the development of new versions, and financing evaluation research. Your trainer will make arrangements with you regarding the payment.
Starting Braingame Brian
After applying to a certified trainer and an appropriate indication, the training can be downloaded from the website to your computer (PC or Mac). Instructions on how to download and install the application are included in the training box, which will be shipped to the trainer after payment is completed. The trainer will then send the instructions to the client and the client can start the training in the presence of the trainer. The trainer will have a login code and password, which are needed to start the first session. With this code, the client can start the next sessions and after each session the data will be saved in a central database.
Technical requirements computer
When the Briangame Brian application is started, a window appears in which the screen resolution and visual quality can be set. If the graphics card (PC or Mac) is not strong enough, the resolution can be adjusted lower, but should be at least 1280 x 800 pixels (a width of 1024 is enough, but some graphical elements may not be visible). A computer less than four years old with a ‘dedicated’ graphics card (AMD/ATI or NVidia; one that is not part of the processor) should be able to run the application with visual quality set to ‘good’ and lower. If the graphics card is not separate, a computer less than two years old should run on ‘simple’ or lower. If the integrated card is an Intel card, computers more than 18 months old may not be able to run the application. Aside from the graphics card, the computer should have preferably 2 GB of memory.
In order for the training to be effective, the computer must meet the minimum technical requirements. Only then the game world can be optimally explored and be rewarding enough for the training effort.
Technical test
To test whether the PC or Mac on which your child is going to train is able to run the Braingame Brian application, you can download the technical test. The test is available for PC and for Mac. Download and unzip the file. Make sure you keep all the files in the folder you just unzipped and run the application ‘WoB_Test_PC’, or when using Mac ‘WoB_Test_MAC’. You can finish the test by making Brian walk against the spinning house icon.
Download and unzip the file. Make sure you keep all the files in the folder you just unzipped and run the application ‘WoB_Test_PC’, or when using Mac ‘WoB_Test_MAC’. You can finish the test by making Brian walk against the spinning house icon.
This test contains a small part of the game world of Braingame Brian and is only intended to test your PC or Mac. If Brian is able to smoothly walk through the world and you notice no delay when pressing one of the arrow-keys or the W-, A-, S- or D-key (moving forward, left, backward, right; hold SHIFT to make Brian run) you can be sure that your computer meets the necessary requirements.
Flyer for parents (Dutch)
There is a Braingame Brian flyer for parents (in Dutch).
Helpdesk
During the training a helpdesk is available for technical questions, open from monday until friday at 16.00-17.00. You can also send your question by email to brianhelp@gamingandtraining.nl, and we will contact you on the aforementioned moments.