People who play video games regularly show increased brain activity and decision-making abilities.
- The activities of brain nodes and networks are negatively correlated with decision response time.
- “Video gaming is ideal for cognitive training,” according to the authors.
“Playing video games is a popular activity that provides a meaning-rich environment that can lead to cognitive benefits in those who play them frequently. Exactly how they modify our brains to achieve these cognitive benefits is not yet clear,” said researchers from Georgia State University in Atlanta (USA).
To examine the behavioral and brain responses of video game players and non-players, scientists conducted a study published in the journal Neuroimaging.
brain scans
As part of this work, they recruited 47 people, 28 of whom were classified as regular video game players and 19 as non-gaming adults. The authors used functional magnetic resonance imaging (FIRM). Participants lay inside the machine fitted with a mirror that allowed them to see an index immediately followed by a display of moving dots. They were asked to press a button with their right or left hand to indicate the direction the dots were moving or not to press the button if there was no directional movement.
Increased brain activity
According to the results, adults who regularly played video games were more accurate and faster in their decision making. Analysis of brain scans revealed that the differences correlated with increased activity in certain parts of the brain. “We found that video game players had greater task-related cue changes in the right lingual gyrus, right supplementary motor area, and left thalamus associated with better behavioral response,” can we read in the searches.
“These results indicate that video gaming can enhance several of the sensation and perception sub-processes to improve decision-making abilities. These findings begin to shed light on how video gaming modifies the brain to improve task-related performance and their potential implications for increasing task-specific activity”, concluded the researchers in a statement.
