Mental Health

Video Games Change Human Brains And Make Them Smarter

By Peter D'Souza | Update Date: Jun 08, 2017 03:17 AM EDT

Video games provide lots of enjoyment as well as escape from reality. Though, they are often imprinted as violent, lazy and waste of time.

The debate has boomed on for years. So are they harmful? Can a video game make people smarter? In the following discussion, impacts of video games are discussed.

Advantages Of Playing Video Games

Recently, researchers found through an eight-week period examination that gaming improved student communication skills, resourcefulness, and adaptability. The game-based learning may have a role to play in higher education, The Economic Times reported.

The modern video games are designed to often encourage critical thinking and reflective learning. Researchers also said graduate skills may be improved in a relatively short amount of time, such as eight weeks, The Mirror reported.

Study Results

According to a new study from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, it is possible to enjoy video games regularly and not become flunkies. Another study drawn from a Program for International Student Assessment, was an international survey that tested math, science and reading skills of 15-year-old students.

The survey result showed how much time a student spends online playing and their parent's education level and occupation. From 12,400 Australian students, researchers evaluated the correlation between playing video online and academic performance.

Surprisingly, they found that students who played games almost every day performed better in all categories. Not only that, they scored 15 points above average in math, reading, and 17 points above in science.

Other Effects Of Playing Video Games

Firstly, video games improve cognitive flexibility. Cognitive flexibility is the ability of a person to quick adapt and switch between tasks and also think about multiple ideas.

Secondly, those who played match three objects and spatial memory games had improved performance on visual search. Thirdly, researchers also found that "Super Mario 64" video game players showed an increase in the physical amount of gray matter. That is brain cells in the region involved in functions like spatial navigation, memory formation, and strategic planning.

Now, the last one is very common, it provides both physical and mental relaxation after a busy day or a busy schedule. So it is indeed good news for all gamers, as experts already gave their statement and they said the video games have no side effects.

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