Video gaming is clearly a popular form of entertainment, in which video gamers collectively spend 3 billion hours per week in front of their screens. Due to their widespread use, scientists have studied how video games affect the brain and behavior. Are these effects positive or negative? We review the evidence.
At first glance, over 150 million people in the United States play video games regularly, or at least 3 hours a week. The average American athlete is a 35-year-old adult, with 72% of players 18 years of age or older. In order for children to use video games, the majority of parents - 71% - indicate that video games have a positive effect on their child's health.
Video game sales continue to grow year by year. In 2016, the video game industry sold over 24.5 billion games - up from $ 23.2 billion in 2015 and $ 21.4 billion in 2014.
The best-selling video games of 2016 were Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Battlefield 1, and Grand Theft Auto V. These games fall into the category of first-person shooter or action adventure - the top two genres, numbered 27.5. Percent and 22.5 percent of sales, respectively. First-person shooters and types of action are often accused of inciting anger and violence and addiction.
Decades of research on video games and violence have failed to reach a consensus among scientists. Scientists have failed to discover a link between video games and violent acts in the real world.
Video games and brain changes
A growing body of evidence, however, shows that video gaming can affect the brain and, furthermore, cause changes in many regions of the brain.
Scientists recently collected and summarized the results from 116 scientific studies to determine how video games might affect our brain and behavior. The findings of their review were published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
“Games are sometimes praised or even cast out by demons, often without the actual data supporting the claims. In addition, acting is a popular activity, so everyone seems to have strong opinions on the topic, ”said Marc Palaus, the first author of the review.
Looking at all the research to date, Palaus and the team aimed to see if any trends had arisen about how video games affect brain structure and function. A total of 22 revised studies examined structural changes in the brain and 100 studies analyzed changes in brain function and behavior.
Research shows that playing video games not only changes the structure of our brain but also the structure of their brain.
For example, the use of a video game is known to affect attention. Research included in the review shows that video game players show improvement in a number of types of attention, including continuous attention and selected attention. In addition, the brain regions that play a role in attention work much better for gamers compared to non-gamers, and need less activation to stay focused on difficult tasks.
Evidence also shows that playing video games increases the size and capacity of the parts of the brain responsible for visuospatial skills - the human ability to detect visual relationships and space between objects. For long-time gamers and people dedicated to following the video game training program, the ideal hippocampus has been developed.
Researchers have found that video play can be addictive - a condition known as "Internet gaming disorder."
In sports addicts, there are functional and structural changes in the neural leak system - a group of structures associated with feeling pleasure, learning, and inspiration. Exposing video game addicts to game-related symptoms that cause cravings, and monitoring their brain responses, highlights these changes - changes that are also seen in other addictive diseases.
"We are focused on how the brain responds to video game exposure, but these results do not always translate into real changes," notes Palaus. Research into the effects of video games is still in its infancy and scientists are still debating which game factors affect which brain regions and how.
"Video games can have both positive (attention, visual and motor skills) and negative (risk of addiction), and it is important that we accept these difficulties," Palaus continued.
Are brain-training games beneficial?
A team of researchers from the Florida State University has stated that people should be skeptical of adverts that promote an increase in the performance of the brain that results from brain training games. They have said that science does not support these claims.
Our findings and previous studies confirm that these types of games can significantly improve your life, "says Wally Booth, an associate professor of psychology who specializes in age-related cognitive decline.
People are increasingly under the impression that brain training apps will protect them from memory loss or cognitive impairment.
Researchers have examined whether playing brain training games enhances athletes' working memory and thus improves other cognitive abilities, including reasoning, memory, and processing speed - a process scientists call "transition". Are However, this was not the case.
"It's possible to train people to be great at tasks that you would normally consider in general memory tasks: 70, 80, even memorizing 100 digits," said Neil Charns, professor of psychology. And define a leading authority on aging and cognition.
"But these skills are very specific and do not show much transition. What the seniors in particular should be concerned about is that if I can get very good at crossword puzzles, is it? It will help me remember where my keys are, and the answer is probably no, "he added.
If your goal is to improve your cognitive function, aerobic exercise can help, says Charns. Some research has shown that aerobic activity improves the brain rather than brain activit
Video games boost memory
In contrast, a study published in Nature found that the use of specially developed 3-D video games could improve cognitive performance in older adults and the brain associated with aging. Some of the side effects can be reversed.
Scientists at the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) have stated that it provides a measure of scientific support in the field of mental fitness - criticized for lack of evidence - that brain training stimulates meaningful and lasting change. Can give
After 12 hours of training over a one-month period, study participants aged 60 to 85 improved performance on the game, more than 20-year-olds playing the game for the first time. In addition, two other important areas of knowledge were improved: working memory and continuous attention. These skills were retained 6 months after the completion of their training.
"This discovery is a powerful example of how plastic the old brain is," says Dr. Adam Gazzali, PhD, an associate professor of neuroscience, physiology and psychiatry at UCSF and director of the Neuroscience Imaging Center. Dr. Ghazale notes that it is encouraging that even a small amount of brain training can reverse brain degeneration with age.
A recent study by a neurobiologist at the University of California-Irvine (UCI) found that playing 3-D video games can also promote memory formation. Participants were assigned to either group that played video games with a 2-D environment or a 3-D environment. After playing games for 30 minutes daily for 2 weeks, students were given memory tests that connect the brain to the hippocampus.
Participants in the 3-D group significantly improved their memory test scores compared to the 2-D group. The 3-D group's memory performance increased by 12% - the same amount as memory performance typically decreases between the ages of 45 and 70.
"First of all, 3-D games have some things that 2-D doesn't have," says Craig Stark, UCI's Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. "They have a lot of spatial information to discover. Secondly, they are very complex, with a lot of information to learn. However, we know that this kind of learning and memory is not only stimulated. Yes, the hippocampus is needed. "
Strategy Video games, in particular, promise to improve brain function in older adults and may protect against dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
"If the goal is to improve older adults' cognitive control, reasoning, and advanced cognitive skills, and to prevent dementia and Alzheimer's disease as long as possible, then perhaps strategy is the way to go." Malika Basak tells the assistant. Professor at the Center for Vital Longevity and School of Heavy and Brain Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Basque, like Charnes, agrees that cognitive training should come second only to physical activity programs when it comes to improving cognitive function. Physical fitness programs have been linked to positive effects on cognition and mental function and structure.
There is evidence that video games can be a viable treatment for depression and improve memory and mood in adults with mild cognitive impairment.
The effect of video games on the brain is a new area of research that will continue to be explored. We may be eroding the level of capability that video games can offer in enhancing cognitive ability and preventing cognitive impairments.
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