NeuroSky has released dry sensor ECG headset geared toward gamers.  These have been announced for some time, but it’s the first time I’ve played with them. The idea is to record brain activity when the player is in the “zone” and then use biofeedback to assist the player to get BACK into the “zone”. One group at their GDC booth was collecting data on player concentration/interest via a puzzle game. With a large enough dataset, this will be a breakthrough to measure user interest during game testing. It’s quite a leap to suggest ECG patterns would be similar enough between people to assess interest, boredom, etc. But if they are successful, it would be a boon for game testing and hopefully produce more engaging titles.

A research team at the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is working to uncover regions of the brain that enable us to have religious beliefs.

Subjects (of monotheist religions) were given a functional MRI while responding to statements reflecting their core beliefs.

Researchers found the most recently evolved parts of the brain (such as those involved with imagination, memory and “theory of the mind”) best correlate with religious belief.

[From 'Theory of mind' could help explain belief in God - life - 09 March 2009 - New Scientist]

Dr. Carla Pugh, a surgeon at the Northwestern University medical school was featured in this week’s NY Times.

The article mentions medical professionals and their squeamishness about learning to examine female breasts as well as male and female genitalia. It goes on to talk about the evolution of the Pelvic Exam Simulator and Dr. Pugh’s efforts to improve breast exam training.

[see the original article: Building Organs Even the Prudish Can Handle - New York Times]