Slashdot Mirror


Correlation Found Between Brain Structure and Video Game Success

kghapa writes "Still want to argue that video games shrink your brain? While video games have been previously shown to stimulate brain activity and improve coordination skills, a recently published study has directly linked structures in the human brain with video game aptitude. And yes, apparently size does matter in this case. Quoting: '... each subject received 20 hours of training to play a video game specifically created for research purposes, called Space Fortress. It's basically an Asteroids-type arcade game, in which the object is to knock down and destroy an enemy fortress while dodging space mines. However, the game has lots of extra twists that require close attention. Some of the players were told to focus exclusively on running up a high score, while others were told to shift their priorities between several goals. The result? The subjects who had more volume in an area called the nucleus accumbens did significantly better in the early stages of training. Meanwhile, those who were well-endowed in different areas of the striatum, known as the caudate nucleus and putamen, handled the shifting strategies better.'"

2 of 110 comments (clear)

  1. So, theiy're saying -- by dwiget001 · · Score: 0, Troll

    -- people are different! OMFG!

  2. Useful by Amorymeltzer · · Score: 0, Troll

    This is fantastic information to have. You know, because of all the times in everyday life where you need to either gets lots of points or do different things rapidly. Let's see, there's sports and... sports? People good at video games are good at sports?

    Uh huh. *rolls eyes*

    --
    I live in constant fear of the Coming of the Red Spiders.