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HOW PLAYERS LEARN

There are a few ways in which players learn about neurons. First, we have scaffolded tutorials that come up occasionally as players progress. They teach about new tools and neuronal anatomy, etc. The biggest feature for teaching however are neuroscientist-guided comments that are put down on a neuron. As players play, experts can look at the results and add guidance in the form of text or (pre-recorded) video. These comments teach about neuroanatomy (how to tell an axon from a dendrite, etc.) as well as handy tracing techniques. 

WHO IS PLAYING

What we're seeing is most of our regular players are either retired, or semi-retired. Mozak isn't a face-paced, high stimulation game. It's actually more like a puzzle game. Most of our players report that they "play to relax" and I can attest to the kind of meditative state it brings about as you glide along the dendrites placing nodes.

HOW TO EARN POINTS

Community players earn points by tracing, however only the traces that make it into consensus gain points. Basically, it behooves players to be super accurate! There are also bonus points earned based on different in-game quests, as well as connecting disconnected traces.

DATA STORED

We're lucky to live in the time of cloud storage, that's for sure! Datasets are placed into AWS S3 buckets by different labs. We then pull that info down from the cloud, process it on our lab computers, and upload it to our servers. As players play, their browser pulls small "bricks" of data in as they are needed (as not to overload the browser or player's computer). It's a bit different than typical tracing software, since typically that pulls datasets off of the computer that is being used to trace.

Ha, yes that IS the question, isn't it? The neuroscientists we work with are constantly coming up with new ideas as to how this collaboration can grow. I'll also say that when the Allen Institute for Brain Science was hiring a new professional tracer, they had us post the job announcement to our community as playing Mozak provided sufficient background for the job! Which is just... super cool.

Also, if you want to check out the TED Talk from our co-PI and resident neuroscientist to directly hear what she has to say on the subject you can check that out here!

Thank you!

 

Honestly, this is tough to answer because it's been really hit and miss. We've tried a lot of social media outreach but social media algorithms being what they are, it's been a rough road. Unless you're able to pay for posts to reach people, it's hard to get eyes on content (even if it is super cool!).

 

We had two fairly good sized media publications feature us (New York Times and AARP) and that's where we've gotten most of our players. It's an ongoing struggle, to be honest. If you have any outreach secret weapons, please do share!

 

We've done some player surveys and the biggest thing players report getting from Mozak is a relaxing activity to calm their mind after a hectic day. Playing can be quite meditative for me as well!

Thanks for stopping by to check us out!

I love the idea of looking at lifelong learning programs! We'll absolutely have to pursue that! Thank you!!

As a former educator, I've thought a lot about measures of learning when it comes to Mozak. And while the technical aspects of the game are currently prioritized this is certainly something we're playing with. We recently ran an experiment to give approximately half of players automatically generated lessons based on their previous gameplay to see improvements. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful at gathering enough meaningful data to analyze. But we're going to keep at it!

Laying out some lessons for educators is a wonderful idea! In the very early days of Mozak, we'd playtest the game with classes of 5/6th graders and I'd begin with a brief intro into the science of neurons. The response was always one of excitement and curiosity.

 

I'll most certainly consult with our neuroscientists to see what we can offer in the way of career info for high schoolers as this could be a fantastic gateway into many STEM fields. Thank you so much for the ideas!!!

Wonderful! Welcome to the Mozak community! The learning curve can be a bit steep but once you get the hang of it things so smoothly. You can always pop into chat and ask questions on any points of confusion. I'm always there. :)

We haven't attempted to quantify the meditative aspects of the game thus far. It's just very common feedback we received (that I can certainly backup with my anecdotal experience). 

Looking forward to seeing you around the neurons!

We do, yes! Many are still active on Mozak to this day!

We always try and keep the community posted about papers their work has contributed to and the like. A few months ago, they were acknowledged in a paper in Nature!