When was the last time you were shot down for playing too much video games stating that your brain would turn into spaghetti? It's time to prove those anti-gamers wrong! Recently, a bunch of researchers took this upon themselves to help you play video games by proving how games help tone our brain!
The Research
These researchers took 23 individuals and studied them over a matter of 2 months when they went around their daily routine but played half an hour of Super Mario 64 every day. What the researchers found was a significant increase in the gray matter in various parts of the gamers' brain. Previous research showed a distinct increase in the brain volume, but this time around, the researchers were capable of zeroing down which parts of the brain were truly altered during the process.
The Implication
The research, other than reiterating the positive effect of gaming highlighted various other aspects that were left out till date. For instance, this very same exercise can be used to train a certain part of the brain, like the cerebellum, to actively grow at a faster rate. This can be used to treat various disorders like Schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder by targeting a highly specific part of the brain and allowing it to grow. Other than this, gaming is known to fine-tune a person's motor skills, response timing, memory formation and strategic planning. A previous research also showed that gamers were less likely to be depressed as gaming proved to be a medium for channelling their emotional baggage to a great extent.
While this research did prove to be beneficial for the scientific world to take gaming seriously and utilize it as a means to cure various disorders, it does not imply that you need to play video game for countless hours to grow your brain and turn into Professor X, because another research suggests excessive gaming can lead to shrinking of your brain. Don't tell us we didn't warn you!
By Tejas Morey
