When something goes wrong, people like to have one scapegoat. Rock ‘n’ roll was once the plague that afflicted young people. With heavy metal it developed. Video games are another relatively recent development. Violence, poor academic performance, unemployment, sexual dysfunction and a host of other problems are all attributed to video games.
However, it turns out that playing video games can improve brain function and increase intelligence. Remember hearing that playing video games can reduce your chances of Alzheimer’s? However, how it achieves it can be beneficial for everyone, not just the vulnerable or the elderly. Playing video games has been shown to improve memory, planning, spatial orientation and fine motor skills.
German adults were instructed to play Super Mario 64 for two months, every day for thirty minutes. They got an MRI after that. The amount of gray matter in their brains was noticeably higher than in the non-gaming control group. This can be seen in the cerebellum, right prefrontal cortex and right hippocampal region.
