Japanese Researcher Finds Gaming Stunts Brain

Bill Gates writes: "This story at the Guardian describes research done in Japan showing that playing video games in youth prevents development of the front lobe, leading to violent behavior." Turns out what at first appears to be arbitrary, mind-numbing violence may turn out to be just that. It seems this study might have returned different results, though, if it looked at the effects of video games which require lots of calculation instead.

Comments

I forget who said it

[Anonymous Coward]

"If Pac-Man had affected us as kids, we would all be running around in dark rooms, munching pills and listening to repetative electronic music."

Re:I forget who said it

[Mordibity]

Umm...

My office area is dark (to reduce glare on monitors)...

There's a maze of cubes outside my door...

I do prefer electronica/techno/rave music...

I gladly take Zyrtec, whose magical properties keep me from sneezing during the first two months of the year...

(Gulp) It's true!

Gasp of surprise (not)

[Rogerborg]

• it was found that the computer game only stimulated activity in the parts of the brain associated with vision and movement.

Let me predict the arguments here regarding this article.

• Pro: But of course, c.f. these other references.
• Con: i plai games on AOL an am genus, But munkies i kil yoo

Funny-ha-ha's aside, what on earth did we expect? That spending 8 hours a day watching repetitive, unvaried images of violence and gore would create a race of uber kinder?

Don't get me wrong, I like games. I used to write them, and I enjoy playing them, including FPS'ers. I honestly feel that (partly because I used to write them) I'm smart enough to realise that playing them does actually makes me dumber and antisocial (and I'm pushing 30). I don't think they make me more violent, but my fragile little mind was well formed before I really started playing gore-o-ramas in earnest, plus I blow off a lot of steam playing physical sports, something that GenY is doing less and less.

No, it's not the collapse of civilisation as we know it, but if you're going to argue that environment doesn't shape behaviour, then we have no grounds for debate, and you mite ars wel kil me, cuz i am gay but monkie.

I'm so totally not inclined to violence

[jud78]

Grrrr. Anyone making fun of my underdeveloped frontal lobe will find my foot up his overdeveloped ass! Most of my youth was spent playing Japanese RPGs. If doing repetitive math for 30 minutes is good for the development of the frontal lobe, I probably have the largest frontal lobe in the world.

I'm waiting...

[quintessent]

for a similar study on the effects of reading Slashdot 10 hours a day.

gamers are brainless

[enterfornone]

Anyone who has worked in tech support and had to deal with gamers (I want little ping! Too much pocket loose!) could tell you this for free.

The researcher said it himself...

[vacaman]

"The importance of this discovery cannot be underestimated ."

Re:Comparisons?

[zpengo]

If someone ends up 4 years behind because they spent that much of their life playing Quake, wouldn't you count that as damage?

Four years? I'd call that Quad Damage.

Naked Woman Seeks Sex at Airport

Re:And to complete the well-worn formula...

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for explaining the joke to us.