1. My topic is about the gene mutation MTHFR and what physical and cognitive effects it may have on an individual. I recently got diagnosed with this and I want to see if there is a connection between the symptoms I have and studies that have been done. In the York College library website there is not a lot of studies done in this area. Majority of the studies were either too old to use, not peer reviewed, or did not have the full PDF. So I was left with very limited information. An article I found was about this gene mutation and migraines. The background to Samaan et al. study: “Migraine is a common disorder that often coexists with depression. While a functional polymorphism in methyleneterahydrofolate reductase gene (MTHFR C677T) has been implicated in depression; the evidence to support an association of MTHFR with migraine has been inconclusive. We aim to investigate the effect of this variant on propensity for migraine and to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies of MTHFR and migraine to date”. In this game I want to educate people on what the gene mutation is and for those who have it, be able to find ways to be healthy. INTRODUCTION Methods Figure 1: Figure 2: Game board Data Figure 3: Figure 4: Results Subjects: 5 subjects were used and they were recruited by random. I approached them and ask if they would like to participate in an experiment. They have no health conditions and unfamiliar with the gene mutation MTHFR. Apparatus: Data was collected by writing the information down on a piece of paper. The game is a card game. There is a major game board, food cards, specialty cards, and a timer. Responses are measured by days and the health of the baby. Procedure: The results of each player’s baby’s health I compared. The subjects were asked to maintain/ improve the health of the baby. The players were given direction cards to begin and play. I did not want to over shadow and explain because I wanted to see if my game was functional. Conflict: There is a card that guides the player on what to do each level. The players have to look at it before they begin the level so that they know which food stack to use. Boundaries: Players can only use what is given to win the game. You must pick the right card or else you lose. Conclusion My thesis originally, “It is predicted that the gene mutation is associated with migraines and depression which leads individuals to become alcohol dependent”. I had to change this because I have no data proving this. My game was about educating young adults to the gene mutation MTHFR. My thesis now is, it is predicted that the gene mutation is associated with causing health issues; educating people about it can help prevent bad health. The people who randomly played my game had no idea about it. When they played the game, they chose the wrong foods and lost points. After playing the game I let them know how common this is and the symptoms that some of them were interested in knowing more about it. My thesis is not solving anything. It is just informing people on another type of deficiency. Letting people know about other health defects is always beneficial because if they have it or someone they know does, they can start changing their diet to feel better. The studies I looked to were trying to find a connection between the gene mutation and depression or having a migraine with an aura. There was data proving these ideas. I stopped looking at what exactly my old thesis was about and trying to create a simple game. References Samaan, Z., Gaysina, D., Cohen-Woods, S., Craddock, N., Jones, L., Korszun, A., … Farmer, A. (2011). Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase Gene Variant (MTHFR C677T) and Migraine: A Case Control Study and Meta-analysis. BMC Neurology, 11, 66. http://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2377-11-66 Subjects: The subjects I used were mid adolescence, early adulthood college/high school, all ethnicities with the gene mutation MTHFR, upper high school grades 11-12 (ages 16- 18), college students (ages 18-24). They were recruited through research pools, flyers posted up in schools. Children were from urban areas and public colleges with gene mutation and without. Control group: without the gene mutation Experimental group: have the gene mutation Apparatus: I feel a video game will be more effective for the idea I have. I was thinking to have the baby grow up and for the child to continue going through health issues and problems. Have the child-teenager make bad decisions and see how the player guides the child throughout. Food is the stimuli, it causes a reaction depending on if you have the gene mutation, as the child gets older, alcohol and drugs can pop up as well to see how that may affect the health of the child Food pieces are created in the game and it will be circling around the child and you need to click the right foods to give the baby. The levels will get harder as you continue playing. And drugs and alcohol will be added to the game pieces. There is a health bar and the baby’s face changes depending on what the child eats to keep track of the responses. Core Game Mechanic: 2 ore more players can play this game or as many the cards can allow. Players have to pick the healthiest foods from a pack of cards before the timer and whoever has the most wins, the game does enforce the learning objective because you learn which foods are gluten free. It begins to be easy to remember because you look at the name, picture, and player may say the food out loud and that becomes a better chance of it staying in the players mind. The player’s have a lot of freedom during this game. The only things that they cannot control are the food that they are given. And the other external factors like drugs and alcohol if that pops up in a food stack. This makes it fun because you have to work with what you got to make it. Using the specialty cards can health if the odds are not in your favor and you get a bad food deck. The rules are in the amount of time given; feed the baby the correct foods. You cannot trade cards unless you get a special blue card. You may get a free pass if you get that in your stack of food cards. This may conflict because the player can simply throw down any card and not really learn the whole point of the game. There are specialty cards. Cards that can add extra time, give free passes for more points, or trade cards with a player. There is a card that guides the player on what to do each level. The players have to look at it before they begin the level so that they know which food stack to use. Cristina Martinez Department of Behavioral Sciences A Game Based Learning Approach to Understanding the Gene Mutation MTHFR and its effects on Health