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Nintendo Keeps Wits and Reflexes Sharp
PreacherTom writes "While not definitively proven, the concept that video games can stave off mental degradation in the elderly is gaining favor. 'Nintendo ... boast[s] that Brain Age was developed with the help of Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, a respected Japanese neuroscientist whose face pops up at the start of every game. Kawashima believes brains can be kept young and nimble through the rapid repetition of simple mental challenges. The game is wildly popular in Japan, and 4 million copies have been sold worldwide since Brain Age was introduced 15 months ago.'"
Why is this being treated like it's a new issue? It's been known for years that keeping yourself active mentally keeps your alertness level up. Video games have been the subject of a lot of reports that the continual hand/eye coordination and continual exposure to numerous stimuli, like video, audio, reaction times, puzzle solutions, and so forth, keep the brain active and responsive. There are studies that eldery people who play things like crossword puzzles on a regular basis are generally more alert and have a better mental capacity than others their age who don't engage in such behaviors.
.. oh why .. is this news to anyone?
For crying out loud! Even Ronald Reagan thought during his presidency that the continual hand/eye coordination and quick thinking that were necessary with video games were good at keeping kids mentally alert! That fact that this dates back to RR means that this is 20 year old information. (Yeah, yeah, I know that he was a republican and therefore a target for knee-jerk, Slashdot ridicule, but no comments about ketchup or alzhimers, all right?)
Why
The Overrated mod is for reversing inappropriate, positive mods, not for voicing disagreement with a post.
I believe it. I had brain surgery to remove a minor tumor, it was supposed to be completely safe and undamaging, but the surgery didn't go well and I ended up with a brain injury. I had terrible problems remembering words, and reading was very difficult. What pulled me through was playing Boggle on my computer. I figure the word game helped me reactivate my damaged memory pathways, and retrained me in pattern recognition. I still suck at Boggle, but I always did, even before the surgery. But now I seem to be back to my previous levels of literacy again, and the computer game helped me get there.