Video Game Players Have Superior Cognitive and Decision-Making Ability, Study Finds

A new study reveals higher cognitive abilities (by some points) in those who usually play video games than those who don’t.

According to a recent study conducted by researchers at Georgia State University, frequent video game players show superior sensorimotor decision-making ability and increased activity in very specific regions of the brain compared to those who do not game.

“The vast majority of our young people play video games for more than three hours a week, but their beneficial effects on decision-making ability and the brain are not exactly known,” says lead researcher Mukesh Dhamala.

And it is that, video games have become one more form of leisure in which an immense number of young people and not so young participate. That is why this group of researchers takes action to find out what are the beneficial points to highlight.

Well, in the research project, which we leave you linked in case you want to consult it, they participated 47 college-age people28 of which were classified as regular video game players and 19 as non-players.

All of them were introduced to an MRI machine in which, on a screen, they would see a series of points move to one side or the other. Both in their right and left hands they had a button that they had to press depending on the direction in which the point moved.

Well, the results will not surprise you. The study found thatVideo game players were faster and more accurate in their responses. Analysis of subsequent brain scans revealed that the differences correlated with increased activity in certain parts of the brain.

“These results indicate that playing a video game can enhance several of the threads of sensation, perception and assignment to action to improve decision-making ability”the authors wrote.

This study also notes that they found no trade-off between response speed and accuracy: video game players were better on both measures.