Gaming Helps the Brain

Here’s a link to an article that was published in the WSJ on March 6, 2012

When Gaming Is Good for You
Hours of Intense Play Change the Adult Brain; Better Multitasking, Decision-Making and Even Creativity
by Robert Lee Hotz

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203458604577263273943183932.html

This article mentions some of the recent and ongoing research on the impact of video game play on the brain.  Here are two points from the article:

• Researcher Mark Blair at Simon Fraser University, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, has been studying the effects on the brain of people who play the video game StarCraft II.  He has been collecting data on game play impact on such cognitive function as perception, attention and decision-making
• According to University of Wisconsin pyschologist C. Shawn Green, playing video games changes your brain, as do learning to play an instrument or learning a foreign language.

What do you think?  Have you noticed improvements in thinking, creativity, decision-making in yourself or others that you think might be attributed to their dedication to playing games?

This article focuses on the effects of video game play on cognition.  We’d like to open the discussion to the effects of all games on the brain.  What’s been your experience? Have you read any noteworthy books, articles, or research? Tell us what you think!

Cheers!