While many parents worry that video games affect their children’s health and safety, new research has unleashed an unexpected surprise to confirm that playing these games can help control cognition and emotions.
Scientists from the University of Vermont, USA, conducted a study of 2,000 children, aged 9 to 10, and tested those who played at least 21 hours a week, versus those who didn’t play at all.
And the study, the results of which were published in the journal “JAMA Network Open,” showed that children who played video games performed better on tests in which they had to monitor behavior or memorize information.
brain activation
The study’s lead author, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Vermont, Bader Al-Shaarani, said the researchers controlled for factors such as gender, age, and socioeconomic status. They found that gamers not only performed better on tests, but “had more brain activations in areas associated with attention and working memory.”
He also indicated that one of the conclusions of this study may be that parents should think about choosing video games on TV, pointing out that “video games may be no worse than watching TV”.
Video Games – Expression
In addition, the study did not distinguish between the types of video games children play, but the study indicated that most children tend to play fast-paced shooter and adventure games, rather than slow logic games such as puzzle.
Other previous studies had achieved similar results, but what distinguishes this research is that it included the largest group of children to date. It found that children who played video games for three hours or more a day performed better on memory and impulse control tasks than children who did not play video games at all. The players also had higher levels of activity in parts of the brain associated with attention and working memory.
However, the researchers noted that they found no evidence of a direct causal relationship between video games and cognitive enhancements.
