Our Research: Re-Mission™ Attitudes Study in the Brain

fMRI Scan
This is your brain on Re-Mission™

How does playing Re-Mission change real-life behavior?

Results

Results presented at the 10th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine (ICBM) showed that playing Re-Mission had broad impact on brain function. Several key brain regions were activated when playing Re-Mission, including neural structures involved in emotion and motivation, and learning and memory. These findings are consistent with results from a preliminary questionnaire-based study suggesting that a major component of Re-Mission’s effectiveness stems from its impact on individual emotional and motivational processes.

Study Design

In collaboration with Dr. Brian Knutson at Stanford University, HopeLab used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology to analyze brain regions activated when people play Re-Mission. Approximately 50 healthy young adults were randomized to play Re-Mission for 30 minutes (active condition), or to passively observe the video and audio information generated by another person’s game play (passive control condition). Neural activity was measured during game play, and ongoing analyses are relating regional brain activation to measures of game performance, emotional state, cancer-related attitudes and behavior.

The colored spots appear where brain regions are activated by Re-Mission.

Collaborating Investigator

Brian Knutson, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. His laboratory studies brain processes involved in emotion (”affective neuroscience”). Dr. Knutson played a key role in developing the field of “neuro-economics” in a series of studies utilizing fMRI to understand the effects of motivation on learning, preference and judgment in the context of monetary loss and gain.