Wow, this is certainly a better benefit to gaming than that bogus hand-eye coordination crap Nintendo was flinging about in the 1980's.

After being in a car accident, 9 year old Ethan Myers was declared brain dead by some doctors who are surely feeling pretty stupid right about now. However, after some initial recovery — including learning to walk, read and speak again — Ethan is continuing to improve thanks to a healthy regimen of playing video games.

The treatment is called neurofeedback, which rewards people for producing certain brain waves. In this case, Ethan plays PS2 and X-Box driving games on a modified NASA interface, initially used to teach pilots to remain calm during periods of extreme stress. When Ethan is producing the correct brain waves, the game rewards him by making it easier to control the car and go faster. When he isn't, the controls become more difficult to handle.

Ethan credits the video game therapy with helping him make a speech to kids at school and start making new friends. Man, Ethan, you rock. Way to go, kid.

Video game therapy—a new frontier [News.com]