In the endless debate of whether or not video games are bad for you, or even possibly good for you, a new study provides insight into the matter once more. In a study that consisted of nearly 2,000 children, the ones that played video games for three hours a day or more did better than other children that did not play video games, when it came to skills like impulse control and memory. This is part of an ongoing study on cognitive development in adolescents. An MRI of the observed children in the video game-playing group showed that they had higher brain activity in the parts of their brains related to memory and attention, while the having less activity in the part of their brain that handles vision. The reasoning behind the latter statistic is attributed to the fact that kids who play games have brains that are more efficient at handling visual processing, because of the repetition and practice that video games require.

This study does not confirm ones that have come before it, that claim video games cause children or even adults to be more aggressive or depressed. However, they will continue to track that as the children mature, as this is a long-term study. Researchers involved say that despite the results, it doesn't mean you should allow kids to play video games endlessly, nor does it mean that any video game in general can cause a correlation to improved cognitive performance; the genre of game may impact that aspect, a detail that was not specified or studied.

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

The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD Study) is a long-term study taking place in the United States, which tracks the development of over 12,000 children as they age, and various factors that help or hinder their growth.

Source

 

[Hells Malice]

children, the ones that played video games for three hours a day or more did better than other children that did not play video games, when it came to skills like impulse control

Researchers when Fortnite is mentioned: *intense sweating*

 

[KingVamp]

Without knowing the games or genre, makes it harder to discuss.

 

[BraveDragonWolf]

Been playing since I was 2

 

[JuanMena]

I knew this from a long, long time ago.

This study does not confirm ones that have come before it, that claim video games cause children or even adults to be more aggressive or depressed

I think this has ti do more with other factors such as lack of sleep/sleep deprivation, not consuming healthy food, lack of sunlight, lack of fresh air, and sedentarism.
is sedentarism a valid English word?

 

[yraverageamongoose]

i think that the study probably favours single player games such as mario and other nintendo ips mostly since online chats can be very toxic and develops by far a worse environment for children to grow up in. that being said, hope that the study can provide some insight into how to recreate a remastered version of mario teaches typing.

 

[Xzi]

Mostly comes down to active versus passive entertainment I'm guessing. Since no parent is going to be able to engage in activities with their child for every hour they're awake, most kids inevitably get plopped in front of the TV for a decent chunk of their childhood. Receiving feedback when using critical thinking/problem solving skills in a game is always going to be better for brain development than passively consuming TV shows/movies.

Same reason it's probably a good idea to get senior citizens on board with gaming as they slowly become less capable of engaging in sports and physical activities. Alzheimer's and dementia are sometimes inevitable due to genetics, but the onset of symptoms can be delayed by regularly stimulating the brain.

All that said, I'm sure reading books is an even better alternative for brain-developing entertainment, albeit not as fun for many, and thus not as easy to keep them engaged with.

 

[NyaakoXD]

Wasn't this sort of study been done years ago?

 

[Costello]

Wasn't this sort of study been done years ago?

I found this, among many others, but this summary is short and comprehensive:
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED579314.pdf

and yes I suppose it comes down to the type of game and the amount of hours as well.
It's a good supplement but it shouldn't come at the expense of other things such as socializing

 

[HarveyHouston]

This proves my my own philosophy: Games are not what are bad in general; it's how you play them that is good or bad.

 

[City]

I’m not going to dismiss this study, because, to me, it appears that good faith and care was put to make it happen.

This being said, I’m questioning a few things, that I couldn’t find in the source:

- The children that didn’t play video games… were they poor? Because honestly I have never heard of any kid not growing up with playing video games except Lebron James in Space Jam 2, and even he had a Gameboy before being scolded for playing Bugs Bunny’s Crazy Castle. If they were poor, or were in a very rigid household, are we sure that other factors weren’t into place?

- They mention the size of the study, ok, but what about the age group? The amount of time?

- The games! We want to know the games they have played! Were they educational games? Were they real games? Were they homework disguised as videogames?

 

[elpapadelospollitos]

Obviously they were playing Doom

 

[Deleted member 194275]

Most people who plays many hours a day play the same game over and over again (usually online). How this helps the cognitive abilities?

Go out and play still is what kids should be doing with most of their free time. Variety of activities is extremely important too, from building blocks to have fun with musical instruments, you should always put variety on the little ones daily routine. Gaming may happen in this context of variety, but never ever as the main activity.

I have two kids (this is a very small sample, I know). Both will sunk a absurd amount of time in a single little thing they like if we let to. The times that happened here, it led to pretty bad days (they get angry or have trouble to sleep).

 

[Sathya]

if the game was mario kart Wii, it will make the children being temprament in future

 

[LeNoobio]

this comes far too late for me to use it against my parents
dang it, all those hours I could have played (more than I already did... )

 

[ZeroT21]

Personally, I think the overal living environment and upbringing has more to do with it

 

[The Catboy]

This is just not how you science. There’s just so many factors to consider and such a vague study doesn’t cover those

 

[RedoLane]

Well yeah, some people here and even I, are living proof.
I do think that it has to do with the type of game they play, such as platformers,

 

[lordelan]

That was already known in the 90s and I used every single opportunity to tell my mom about it when she said, I should give my Game Boy some rest.

 

[DAZA]

lol my dad always said "playing video games was a waste of time and pointless"

my arguement in return was "the games i play have complex puzzles that makes you think outside the box which means you have to be switched on to solve them and thats why im smart and your a dumbass!"