Video games offer an amalgamation of adventure and entertainment. As a result, the gaming industry has boomed over the past few decades, with video games being critically acclaimed for their innovative game design, inclusivity, and impactful storytelling.
Now, regardless of the genre, the merits and demerits of video games, and how these games affect our brains is being discussed widely, especially with regard to video game addiction.
Here, we’ve shed light on how gaming can actually be good for your brain. Read on to know more.
Promotes Stimulating Activity
Unlike movies and puzzle-solving games, video games are quite interactive and demand attention to detail. For instance, in role-playing games, there’s a list of goals that you’ve to achieve in order to win the game.
Every time you complete a task, you get points as rewards, which you use to amplify your character’s skills. Besides, you also get virtual trophies that witness your achievements. This mix of the danger of a particular situation and then providing a resolution gives the user a sense of accomplishment, which generally doesn’t happen in real life.
In fact, businesses have raised the bar by introducing new gaming technologies like cloud-based gaming platforms for a better experience. For instance, users who don’t have a PC but want a similar experience with their Macbook can download geforce now for mac and connect their favorite compatible games to the platform. This allows them to play at high quality without spending money on buying expensive platforms.
Overall, all of this has made video games incredibly stimulating.
Influences Brain Matter
Studies have shown that video games can impact brain plasticity through the concept of attentional control and reward processing. In simple words, the more concentrated you’re toward a certain task, the more stimulated you feel after finishing that task.
This motivates you to move towards more complicated tasks. This indirectly impacts your brain’s gray matter. It is the outermost layer of your brain responsible for controlling your movement, regulating your emotions, and retaining memories. It simply means that the more you learn, the more your brain has the ability to adapt.
So, just like stimulants, playing video games can increase gray matter in the brain.
Improves Visuomotor Abilities
Since most video games require you to pay attention to detail and interact aggressively, you focus on visual and auditory cues to complete specific tasks. Experts suggest that being able to visually contrast and tell the minute difference between different objects is a skill that gamers can develop.
Besides, a recent study revealed that gamers who played more than 21 hours a week performed better than occasional users when tested for memory and impulsive behavior. In addition, these gamers had more activity in those regions of their brains that were linked with memory and attention.
Summing It All Up
While there are different studies that support the positive impact of video games on the human brain, there are some studies that contradict this fact.
Hence, to understand the exact impact of video games on our brains, experts emphasize conducting detailed research which looks at the particular cause and effects linked with gaming.