Parents worry about the effects of video games on their children, from missing out on exercise to mental health issues.
There may be cognitive benefits associated with the popular pastime, according to a new study.
The lead author, an assistant professor of Psychiatry at the University of Vermont, told Agence France-Presse that he was drawn to the topic because of his expertise in neuro imagery.
Prior research had focused on the negative effects of gaming.
The studies were limited due to their small number of participants.
Chaarani and colleagues analyzed data from the ABCD Study, which is funded by the National Institute of Health.
They looked at survey answers, cognitive test results, and brain images from around 2,000 nine- and ten-year-olds, who were divided into two groups: those who never played games, and those who played for three hours or more a day.
The threshold was chosen due to the fact that it exceeds the guidelines for screen time for older children.
The groups were assessed in two different ways.
The first thing the children were asked to do was press left or right as quickly as possible.
If they saw a stop signal, they were told to not press anything.
In the second task, they were shown people's faces, and then asked if a later picture they saw matched or not, in a test of their memory.
The team used statistical methods to control for variables that could skew the results, such as IQ and mental health symptoms.
The children's brains were scanned as they did the tasks. The brains of video game players show more activity in certain regions.
The authors concluded that the results raised the intriguing possibility that video gaming may provide a cognitive training experience.
It is not possible to know if better cognitive performance leads to more gaming or not.
As the study continues and they look at the same children at older ages, the team hopes to get a clearer answer.
The children's home environment, exercise, and sleep quality can be factors that can be excluded from play.
Future studies could benefit from knowing what genres of games the children were playing, as 10 year olds prefer action games.
excessive use of screen time is bad for mental health and physical activity
He said the results showed that video games might be a better use of time than watching videos on the internet.
Agence France- Presse.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
