Video games are typically viewed as a waste of time by parents, although they may improve children’s brains.
A study indicated that those who play video games for three or more hours per day on average fared better than their counterparts on cognitive and memory tests.
Youth gaming has long been linked to violence, antisocial behaviors, and health problems.
However, researchers have discovered that it may be advantageous for the cognitive development of children.
The brains of children were scanned while they completed a series of tests measuring their reaction time, problem-solving, and memory.
Not only did the children get higher scores, but the regions of the brain responsible for each function were also more active.
The head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which financed the study, Dr. Nora Volkow, stated, “Numerous studies have connected video gaming to behavioral and mental health issues.
This study implies that there may be cognitive benefits linked with this popular sport that need further study.
An estimated six out of ten children in the United States and the United Kingdom play video games.
In the study, which was published in the journal JAMA Network Open Thursday, researchers from the University of Vermont reviewed data from 2,078 American youngsters.
After asking the children how long they played video games daily, they were separated into two groups.
In total, 1,278 individuals reported never playing video games, while 800 individuals reported playing them at least three hours every day.
The American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests that youngsters should not play video games for more than two hours each day.
The brain activity of each youngster was measured using a functional MRI scan.
During the scan, participants wore a pair of digital goggles resembling a VR headset while lying face-up in a long tubular magnet.
They performed two tests that were displayed through the goggles.
In the first test, known as a stop-signal task, participants looked for arrows pointing to the left or right and pressed the correct button when they observed them.
They were also instructed not to press anything when an arrow pointing upwards was displayed.
In the second test, known as an ‘n-back’ test, children were required to memorize an image of a structure and hit a button when they spotted a match in a stream of cards.
In the arrow test, gamers’ reaction speeds were substantially faster than those of non-gamers.
On average, it took non-gamers 307 milliseconds (ms) to halt when presented with an upward-pointing arrow, compared to 299 ms for gamers.
In addition, it took them approximately 550ms to hit the correct button after seeing a left- or right-pointing arrow, compared to 515ms for the gamers.
In the visual test, non-gamers required 1070 milliseconds longer than gamers to press the button indicating they had witnessed a match.
A second consists of one thousand milliseconds.
Children who played video games exhibited increased activity in the precuneus region of the brain, which is connected with memory and attention.
They also demonstrated higher activity in the gyri, which is connected with impulse control, compared to the non-gaming group.
Because the games demand to practice with concentration and impulse control, according to the researchers, playing them may improve these skills.
Dr. Bader Chaarani, a psychiatrist at Vermont University who led the study, remarked, “Many parents are concerned about the impact of video games on their children’s health and development.
As these games continue to expand among young people, it is vital that we better comprehend both their positive and harmful effects.
This is an exciting result that we must continue to examine as these youngsters grow from childhood to adolescence and adulthood, he added.
The observational nature of the study made it impossible to determine whether the increased intellect was due to video games or another source.
In addition, it did not categorize games by genre, such as action or strategy, or whether they were single-player or multiplayer, which may have affected the results.
Children were recruited from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Research (ABCD), which is studying the effects of brain development on adolescents.
Between October 2019 and October 2020, data was evaluated.
