Video Game Players Show Enhanced Brain Activity, Decision-Making Skill
hubie writes:
Study: Video Game Players Show Enhanced Brain Activity, Decision-Making Skill:
Frequent players of video games show superior sensorimotor decision-making skills and enhanced activity in key regions of the brain as compared to non-players, according to a recent study by Georgia State University researchers.
The authors, who used functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) in the study, said the findings suggest that video games could be a useful tool for training in perceptual decision-making.
"Video games are played by the overwhelming majority of our youth more than three hours every week, but the beneficial effects on decision-making abilities and the brain are not exactly known," said lead researcher Mukesh Dhamala, associate professor in Georgia State's Department of Physics and Astronomy and the university's Neuroscience Institute.
"Our work provides some answers on that," Dhamala said. "Video game playing can effectively be used for training - for example, decision-making efficiency training and therapeutic interventions - once the relevant brain networks are identified."
[...] "These results indicate that video game playing potentially enhances several of the subprocesses for sensation, perception and mapping to action to improve decision-making skills," the authors wrote. "These findings begin to illuminate how video game playing alters the brain in order to improve task performance and their potential implications for increasing task-specific activity."
The study also notes there was no trade-off between speed and accuracy of response - the video game players were better on both measures.
"This lack of speed-accuracy trade-off would indicate video game playing as a good candidate for cognitive training as it pertains to decision-making," the authors wrote.
Journal Reference:
Timothy Jordana and Mukesh Dhamala, Video game players have improved decision-making abilities and enhanced brain activities [open], Neuroimage: Reports, 2, 3, 2022. DOI: 10.1016/j.ynirp.2022.100112
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.