The First Prescription Video Game, Solving the Mystery of Short-Term Memory, and Hummingbirds’ Extraordinary Vision

Learn about the first physical evidence that shows how our brains store short-term memory; EndeavorRx, the first ever prescription video game; and why hummingbirds can see colors that you can’t.

Scientists may have found how short term memory is physically stored by Andrea Michelson

• Possible physical trace of short-term memory found. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/iosa-ppt052920.php 
• Vandael, D., Borges-Merjane, C., Zhang, X., & Jonas, P. (2020). Short-Term Plasticity at Hippocampal Mossy Fiber Synapses Is Induced by Natural Activity Patterns and Associated with Vesicle Pool Engram Formation. Neuron. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2020.05.013 
• ‌The synapse (article) | Human biology | Khan Academy. (2020). Khan Academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/human-biology/neuron-nervous-system/a/the-synapse 

The first prescription video game ever was just approved by the FDA by Grant Currin

• Hollister, S. (2020, June 15). The FDA just approved the first prescription video game — it’s for kids with ADHD. The Verge; The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/15/21292267/fda-adhd-video-game-prescription-endeavor-rx-akl-t01-project-evo 
• Office of the Commissioner. (2020). FDA Permits Marketing of First Game-Based Digital Therapeutic to Improve Attention Function in Children with ADHD. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-permits-marketing-first-game-based-digital-therapeutic-improve-attention-function-children-adhd 
• Kollins, S. H., DeLoss, D. J., Cañadas, E., Lutz, J., Findling, R. L., Keefe, R. S. E., Epstein, J. N., Cutler, A. J., & Faraone, S. V. (2020). A novel digital intervention for actively reducing severity of paediatric ADHD (STARS-ADHD): a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Digital Health, 2(4), e168–e178. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2589-7500(20)30017-0
• Klein, H. (2020, June 16). FDA Approves First-Ever Prescription Video Game. Slate Magazine; Slate. https://slate.com/technology/2020/06/endeavorrx-fda-prescription-video-game-adhd.html 
• Akili Announces FDA Clearance of EndeavorRxTM for Children with ADHD, the First Prescription Treatment Delivered Through a Video Game. (2020, June 15). Businesswire.com. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200615005739/en/Akili-Announces-FDA-Clearance-EndeavorRxTM-Children-ADHD 

Hummingbirds can see even more colors than we thought by Grant Currin

• Spectacular bird’s-eye view? Hummingbirds see diverse colors humans can only imagine. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/pu-sbv061120.php 
• Stoddard, M. C., Eyster, H. N., Hogan, B. G., Morris, D. H., Soucy, E. R., & Inouye, D. W. (2020). Wild hummingbirds discriminate nonspectral colors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(26), 15112–15122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1919377117 

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