Virtual worlds offer real-world healing

Online environments help patients overcome ills, researchers say

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17286291/

Researchers are studying whether a video-game version of Iraq can help returning veterans cope better with post-tramautic stress disorder. The initial results are encouraging, says Albert Rizzo of the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies.

View related photos

Updated: 10:43 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2007

We're not just talking about video-game "hit points" here — but about real-life maladies ranging from cerebral palsy to post-traumatic stress.

The evidence is still tentative, but experts on virtual worlds as well as health care say they see a lot of promise in virtual worlds as a forum for addressing real-world woes in a kinder, gentler environment.

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- A nice cup of the right kind of cocoa could hold the promise of promoting brain function as people age.

In an increasingly aging world, medical researchers are seeing more cases of dementia and are looking for ways to make brains work better.

One potential source of help may be flavanols, an antioxidant found in cocoa beans that can increase blood flow to the brain, researchers said at the annual

meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Ian MacDonald of England's University of Nottingham reported on tests given to young women who were asked to do a complex task while their brains were being studied with magnetic resonance imaging.

Among the women given drinks of cocoa high in flavanols, there was a significant increase in blood flow to the brain compared with subjects who did not drink the cocoa, he said.

Surgeons Who Play Video Games May Be Better at Surgery