Improving Self-Regulation Of Internal Distraction

Value Proposition

Failure to adequately control and regulate the impact of internal distraction can lead to significant impairment in cognition, social conduct, and emotional regulation. Pathological failure to regulate this interference likely plays an important role in a range of mental illnesses, including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (both distractibility and hyperactive behaviors), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (intrusive recollections triggered by external cues), Major Depressive Disorder (ruminations, impairments in cognition and attention), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (uncontrollable anxieties/obsessions, compulsive behaviors), and Substance Dependence Disorders (uncontrollable cravings, contextual triggers for relapse). For this reason, ability to diagnose and treat how we control, suppress and regulate internal external distraction will improve health outcomes across a range of disorders.

Technology Description

UCSF investigators developed a novel, computer-based, assessment and training method that is designed to integrate aspects of concentrative meditation (attention to breath, monitoring quality of attention, control and mind wandering) with game mechanics that underlie a plasticity-based approach to training (repetitiveness, quantifiable goals, feedback and adaptivity of challenge).