Over the last four decades, the video game industry has grown exponentially. What is surprising is that the size of the global video game industry has become way bigger than the global film industry. Video games are now part of our daily life, and they are equally popular among children and adults due to their dynamic nature and continuous improvement in technology. The industry has proved its mettle, and it is here to stay for a long time. Let’s dive into the specifics of the studies that have been done to gauge the brain functioning of children as well as adults.
Video Games May Improve Cognitive Performance In Children
Researchers are continuously trying to study the impact of video games on children. Do video games have an association with better cognitive performance of children?
A recent study on 2,000 children from the ages of 9 and 10 years old found out that those children who were playing video games three hours per day did well on cognitive skills tests compared to those who never played. This study, which was conducted on a far bigger scale than previous research that involved less than 100 participants, indicates that playing video games may have a number of beneficial effects. Since earlier studies pointed out so many negative effects on children, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ screen time guidelines advocated one to two hours of video game play per day. Therefore, this study took participants who were already playing more than the recommended time, i.e., three hours per day, to have a better comparison.
This study evaluated children’s performance on their ability to control impulsive behaviour and memorise information. During video game playing, researchers took magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs) of the children and found that those who played video games for three hours or more showed higher brain activity in brain regions linked with memory and attention compared to those who did not play.
Though previous studies linked video game playing with more aggressive behaviour and violence, this study found no such correlation or anything that could reach the threshold of clinical symptoms in the participants. However, this study does underline the importance of further studies in this regard.
The researchers highlighted that this study did not do cause-and-effect analysis, and there is a possibility that those children who were already good at such types of cognitive challenges might choose to play video games. The authors of the study also pointed out that their study does not suggest that children should spend unlimited time on computers or mobile phones because this directly depends on the overall daily schedule of the children.
How Video Games Helped Improve Surgeons’ Surgical Skills?
A study that was conducted on surgeons to know if there is any role of video game playing in laparoscopic skills found that there is indeed a deep correlation between video game playing and laparoscopic skills. Compared to surgeons who never played video games, those who had played for more than three hours a week in the past made 37% fewer mistakes, were 27% faster, and scored 42% higher overall. Compared to their colleagues who did not play video games, current players scored 26% higher overall, made 32% less mistakes, and were 24% faster.
Three distinct video games were employed in the study, and it was discovered that there was a strong correlation between each game and laparoscopic skills. The study chose Super Monkey Ball 2, Star Wars Racer Revenge, and Silent Scope, and none of the participants had ever played any of these games. All three games were selected from the popular games to check fine motor control, visual attention, processing, eye-hand coordination, spatial distribution, reaction time, targeting, and other such important skills. The study also noted that younger surgeons have shown better performance than their older counterparts, and it concluded that there might be a possibility that younger generations are growing up with screens and the presence of technology around them, and this may be a contributing factor in their better performance.
Conclusion
A new body of research has started showing positive effects of video game playing, unlike in the past when most studies used to point out its negative impacts, such as violence-prone attitudes in children. The proliferation of video games in today’s world has jumped significantly, roping in children and adults alike, thus attracting new investments of hundreds of millions of dollars from large investors every year.
Moreover, the technology has also improved quite significantly in the last two decades, which has opened up new avenues of research on these topics as well. However, researchers are also continuously pointing out that it is largely up to the parents and children to decide which games are more suitable for healthy brain activity and how long they should be in a single day. At the end, it is up to us what kinds of games we play and how much time we dedicate to entertainment to attain a good healthy balance.
Read more industry-related blogs here.
Pictures by Freepik
