Video game players may be better at making decisions

BOSTON – Many parents worry that video games are a bad influence. But a new study finds that frequent players may have an advantage when it comes to making decisions. 

More than 220 million Americans play video games. According to the Entertainment Software Association, 67% of adults and 76% of kids under 18 play, and there may be some benefits.

Researchers at Georgia State University recruited 47 college-age participants who were eye regular video game players or non-players. They were placed inside functional MRI machines where they could visualize moving dots. 

They were asked to push a button with their right or left hand to indicate the direction the dots were moving. They found that the video game players were faster and more accurate with their responses and had enhanced activity in certain regions of the brain. 

Researchers said the study shows how video game playing could be used as a therapeutic tool to improve task performance and decision making.

In:
• Boston

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

Twitter Facebook