Before you assume gadgets and video games fry the minds of the future, consider this: Canadian researchers are finding evidence that the high-speed, multitasking of the young and wireless can help protect their brains from aging.
A body of research suggests that playing video games provides benefits similar to bilingualism in exercising the mind. Just as people fluent in two languages learn to suppress one language while speaking the other, so too are gamers adept at shutting out distractions to swiftly switch attention between different tasks.
A new study of 100 university undergraduates in Toronto has found that video gamers consistently outperform their non-playing peers in a series of tricky mental tests. If they also happened to be bilingual, they were unbeatable.
“The people who were video game players were better and faster performers,” said psychologist Ellen Bialystok, a research professor at York University. “Those who were bilingual and video game addicts scored best – particularly at the most difficult tasks.”
The York study, which tested subjects’ responses to various misleading visual cues, is to be published next month in the Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology. Three other studies published in the past two years have also concluded that action video games can lead to mental gains involving visual skills and short-term memory.
Well, if you spend all your time gaming, the fastest brain in the world won’t help you pass your exams if you haven’t studied for them. Plus, you would probably be overweight.
Take everything with a pinch of salt. I wonder if they studied chess players.
@kk, agree with you, this article does not justify or suggest to game-on for 24 hrs a day, maybe 2 hrs a day or occasionally, it just hints at some indirect benefits of gaming, just to say it’s not all bad as some people think.
Look, gaming is just another form of entertainment. Don’t go overboard on it. That is all. And there are lots of sports that can lead to mental acuity improvement. There are other things that can help improve your brain - try writing with your hand.
Nice to know that. Will be showing it to my parents the next time they ask me to get off the ps2.
