14 DAY TRIAL // The brain of people who play games are different than those of the rest, and it might be a good thing, a new study has revealed.
There is a lot of talk and not so many studies about the effect of video games on the brains of people. A lot of speculation goes into the analysis of people who play video games, but we now also have some data that should shed light on this matter.
As it turns out, playing games can be a good thing for the brain. At the same time, it can only have some detrimental effect. Better yet, it's difficult to see if the good effects of playing games can be distinguished from the bad ones. It's very likely that it's a package deal.
Playing games is good and bad
A new study, which was a collaboration among the University of Utah School of Medicine and Chung-Ang University in South Korea, revealed some interesting fact. It turns out that "chronic video game play" (sounds a little like a syndrome) can help the brain create some new wiring that leads to hyperconnectivity between several brain networks. This, in turn, can result in fast response times for real world events.
"This study reports that in adolescent boys with the disorder, certain brain networks that process vision or hearing are more likely to have enhanced coordination to the so-called salience network. In a video game, enhanced coordination could help a gamer to react more quickly to the rush of an oncoming fighter," a report on psypost.org reads.
There is a downside as well. Two brain regions that connect for video gamers are called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and temporoparietal junction. This connection has been observed before in people with schizophrenia, Down’s syndrome, and autism. Maybe stimulating these particular areas is not a really good idea.
One of the side effects might be an increase in distractibility, among other things. More details about this study can be found on psypost.org.