A strong increase in video games, according to scientists, has a lot of positive side effects: this activity has a good effect on a person’s ability to make decisions and increases activity in certain areas of the brain. These conclusions were made by researchers from the University of Georgia in the United States. They scanned gamers with MRI scans and then found differences in their brain activity compared to non-gamers.
To get the most accurate results, the scientists studied gamers who played games five or more hours a week. The study involved 47 people, of which 28 were passionate about video games, and 19 were those who simply prefer this type of leisure to others. The scientists set different tasks for the subjects, assessing their reaction time, and at the same time the participants were scanned on the MRI machine. The study showed that gamers outperform ordinary people in decision making.
The scientists also found differences in areas related to cognitive and sensorimotor processing. In the brain, these areas are responsible for a person’s ability to correlate visual information with motor function.
According to lead researcher Mukesh Dhamala, most young people spend more than three hours a week playing video games. But the beneficial effects of this process on brain abilities were not previously known. “Our work answers this question: video games can be effectively used for learning, and they also contribute to the development of brain networks,” the scientist emphasized.
It is noted that one of the authors who conducted the study was blind in one eye. After completing the experiment, he stated that his passion for video games helped him improve vision in his healthy eye.
Overall, this study by scientists at the University of Georgia showed how video games change the human brain for the better and help increase concentration when performing various tasks.
Earlier, the former holder of the UFC lightweight title, Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov spoke about his critical attitude towards video games and negatively assessed their impact on the development of children. According to the sports star, modern youth spends on such entertainment from 2 to 4 hours every day, and this is very bad. As a child grows, it is very important that he learns to “invest time in himself.” According to Nurmagomedov, it is necessary to protect children from video games, as they can affect their future in a bad way.