Scientists conducted a study in which almost 2,000 children aged 9-10 years took part. It showed that
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Children from these two groups completed two tasks that were supposed to reflect their ability to control impulsive behavior, remember information, and also show brain activity.
Children who played video games faster and more accuratelycoped with both cognitive tasks. Gamers showed higher activity in areas of the brain associated with attention and memory, as well as in the frontal areas associated with more complex cognitive tasks. At the same time, activity in the areas responsible for vision was lower.
Researchers believe this may be due tothat children performed similar tasks in video games that require cognitive effort. The scientists believe that these changes could lead to improved performance in related tasks. The relatively low activity in brain regions associated with vision is explained by the fact that in gamers it may be more efficient in processing images as a result of practice in games.
It is noted that previous works on this topicfound a connection between video games and an increase in depression, violence and aggressive behavior, but this was not found in the new study. Children who played video games reported more severe mental health and behavioral problems, but the researchers emphasize that this association was not statistically significant. This means that the authors cannot say for sure whether this trend reflects a true association or if it is a coincidence.
In addition, the researchers note thatcross-sectional research does not allow for a causal analysis. Perhaps children who are good at such cognitive tasks may themselves be drawn to video games. Scientists also believe that different genres of video games can affect neurocognitive development in different ways. They were unable to explore this aspect in this study.