We've all heard the cry: "videogames are bad", and no amount of blue-in-the-face rebuttal tends to change standard, uneducated opinion (try telling people it's your job). But thankfully, every once in a while, proper testing is done and positive results come in.

The University of Rochester in the US has been conducting studies using videogames for cognitive science. The ABC has an interesting article up pointing out the positives researchers are beginning to find.

Today, a growing area of brain research suggests modern fast-paced action video games — in particular first-person shooter games — may sharpen your vision, improve your attention and working memory, and develop your fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

It's suggested in the article the positive affects of this sort of thing translate to every day activities such as driving, and may even help reverse brain degradation in the ageing process.

The full article can be found right here.

I don't think 'sharpen your vision' is really an outcome. If I'm anything to go by then short-sightedness is the order of the day. I had 20/20 sight until pretty much the time I started full-time computer work. Could be coincidence, but I am convinced there is a connection between my myopia and sitting in front of a computer 24/7.

Also, only non-gamers seem to think gaming is bad for you. You only have to look at typical puzzles like those found in IQ tests to know that gaming will help you develop skills to solve many problems (like mental rotation and so on).

It's like maths. Only people that were never good at maths and never managed to get to a stage where they had to apply it think that maths is useless. The, "Calculus, when will I ever use that s***?", type of person.

Like anything though, too much gaming is not good. Balance is the key to life.

I don't think 'sharpen your vision' is really an outcome. If I'm anything to go by then short-sightedness is the order of the day. I had 20/20 sight until pretty much the time I started full-time computer work. Could be coincidence, but I am convinced there is a connection between my myopia and sitting in front of a computer 24/7.

Meh this is like an old wives tale. You've just gotten old.

but pinky i doubt doctors use calculus

Calculus gives you the time of death from the temperature of the corpse, spread rate of infections, and how many molecules of a substance are required for a particular reaction to occur.

last edited by thermite at 12:14:04 03/Jul/09

Calculus gives you the time of death from the temperature of the corpse,

Coroner

spread rate of infections

researcher

how many molecules of a substance are required for a particular reaction to occur.

pharmacists/chemist

By sharpen your vision, I think they actually mean, blur your vision.

Myopia + Astigmatism = Sad panda

You can attribute many skills to gaming really. Like my typing skills are much better since I was always afraid of being killed while tying so it forced me to type faster. My logic and reasoning are better, as decision making skills are tested constantly in many games in many scenarios. My attention to detail is lower, because if i miss something I'll just respawn/reload from save. :)

Calculus gives you the time of death from the temperature of the corpse,

Coroner

spread rate of infections

researcher

how many molecules of a substance are required for a particular reaction to occur.

pharmacists/chemist

greazy, you have outdone yourself with this reply.

Doctors could use calculus to determine the rate of dosage though (for a drip, as an example). I'm sure they probably don't...

How did doctors even come into this discussion?

a lot of professions don't use calculus. My point was simple, your example is not so very good.

last edited by greazy at 14:56:43 03/Jul/09

err all those 3 things you listed are types of doctors. Also on TV shows with a spaceship those jobs would all be done by the same guy.

if you're talking about a GP, then yes, those guys are dumb. Really just a salesman that has a little medical training.

last edited by thermite at 14:58:51 03/Jul/09

I posted a summary of this research last year, and everyone ignored it :(

no one uses calculus really

thats what spreadsheets are for

Btw, my research is in a similar field to this. Someone in our lab is researching very similar things, gaming and vision/attention skills. The problem with the research presented in the news article is that other research groups are having problems replicating their findings, which is a red flag.

I know a fair bit about this stuff, but unfortunately I can't answer questions until tomorrow, cause I'm about to celebrate getting a scholarship, bitches.

Congrats Billy, wanna sit my supp exam for me

haha omg I only just clicked the link in the OP, how funny is the picture of the teenagers. One of them looks like the big one out of Hanson.