You know the idea that gaming isn’t good for you? Yeah, well that idea may have gone to pot.

Research uncovers evidence that gamers may actually have healthier brains than the rest of us. It’s not just avid gamers that have the advantage. It takes an expert to train the brain, so to speak.

The research

The conclusion to this study comes from AVG (Action Video Games). These games include fighting or racing, to name a few. With these games, subjects can be tested on hand-eye coordination and reaction times. Unlike other games, AVGs prove to greatly benefit the player.

A research team led by Dezhong Yao investigated expert gamers and amateurs. The findings were interesting indeed. It seems that expert AVGs have superior cognitive skills as opposed to their amateur counterparts.

By comparing AVG experts and amateurs, we found that AVG experts had enhanced functional connectivity and grey matter volume in insular subregions,” the researchers wrote.

In the Scientific Reports, MRI scans were used to study networks controlling perception, cognitive functioning and motor control, located within the insular cortex. This study included 27 expert gamers and 30 amateurs.

A more detailed conclusion shows that expert gamers have more connectivity in both right and left hemisphere of the brain – mostly in the left hemisphere, to be exact. This hemisphere controls calculations, objective thinking and logic. This shows the direct correlation between decision making and connectivity in the brain.

Gray matter

Expert gamers also have more gray matter. The more gray matter, the more information processed in the game and in life situations.

If you are a gamer, what should you do? Well, it certainly doesn’t hurt to go outside and enjoy the weather, but playing video games is just as healthy. It seems that gamers improve their brain function by doing exactly what they want. So, do away with the thought that gaming is bad for you. It seems that this pastime proves to have the opposite effect. Keep playing – become smarter!


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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Raya Yuki

    I must say, this is rather interesting. I also must admit that I’m a bit skeptical as well. The subjective statement, “Well, it certainly doesn’t hurt to go outside and enjoy the weather, but playing video games is just as healthy.” isn’t true. Simply stating that playing video games is “just as healthy” because gamers have enhanced brain connectivity moreso than people who don’t play videos games is entirely untrue. I would rather stay fit and play outside than sit around on my butt all day playing video games simply because it enhances my brain connectivity. You need to also think about other factors that come with gaming, not just the mental ones.

  2. Otto Bhan

    Kudos Yuki San,
    A mother may wish to believe the offspring are benefitting from endless hours of corpus collosum collusion… its de’riguer contemporary escapism.
    Truth be told, I am aware of the many intrinsic values and learning experiences gained by children meeting life in the real world, a cane pole with worms in a can and a bicycle twixt your legs en route to individual PERSONAL kinesthetic experiences in real-world environments as having been more life-fulfilling than any lasting testament to video gaming for sustenance.
    It may be that, youth harnessed in virtual reality become the Spocks, Uhurus and Kirk of the impending space colony navigation age. But that is a far off fantasy for now. Putting real-world hunting, perception, stealth and awareness in its true requisite position, as numero unto is to me… the tell all, end all, purveyor of survival in a sometimes hostile universe.

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