A new study shows that children who reported playing video games for three hours or more each day outperformed those who never played them on memory and impulse control tests.
The study was backed by Nora Volkow of the National Institute of Drug Abuse, who said, “This study adds to our growing understanding of the associations between playing video games and brain development.”
“Numerous studies have linked video gaming to behavior and mental health problems. This study suggests that cognitive benefits may also be associated with this popular pastime, which are worthy of further investigation,” she added.
Video games have been shown to improve cognitive function, according to researchers. However, other studies have also connected excessive gaming to behavioral and mental health issues, supporting the findings of earlier, more constrained studies that have made the same conclusion.
Researchers from Vermont University studied approximately 2,000 children’s brain imaging data starting between the ages of 9 and 10.
“The researchers found that the children who reported playing video games for three or more hours per day were faster and more accurate on both cognitive tasks than those who never played,” the study said.
According to the MRI brain imaging analysis, children who played video games for three or more hours each day displayed increased brain activity in areas of the brain linked to attention and memory than did kids who never played.
The study found that video gamers had higher brain activity in frontal regions connected to cognitively intense tasks and lower activity in vision-related areas.
“While prior studies have reported associations between video gaming and increases in depression, violence, and aggressive behavior, this study did not find that to be the case,” researchers said.
The researchers warn that a selective bias might call for more investigation.
They said, “It could be that children who are good at these cognitive tasks may choose to play video games.”
“While we cannot say whether playing video games regularly caused superior neurocognitive performance, it is an encouraging finding, and one that we must continue to investigate in these children as they transition into adolescence and young adulthood,” said Vermont U. psychiatry professor Bader Chaarani, a lead author of the study.
“Many parents today are concerned about the effects of video games on their children’s health and development, and as these games continue to proliferate among young people, it is crucial that we better understand both the positive and negative impact that such games may have.”
Researchers will be able to follow the same children into early adulthood as part of the longitudinal study to determine whether variations in playing video games are associated with variations in cognition, brain function, behavior, and mental health.
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