Action games improve eyesight according to study

Here’s something that you can tell your mom the next time she tells you to stop playing all them darn action videogames. A recent study conducted by the University of Rochester produced results that show some action-based videogames may actually improve eyesight.

The study went like this: A group of students were divided into control groups and given a crowding test where the students in each group were asked to identify the orientation of the letter T on a page full of other distracting symbols and letters. The students’ response times were recorded for later comparison. The test groups were then given games to play for a month. One group got Tetris while the other was given Unreal Tournament.

A month of near-daily gaming later (which according to the article translates to about 30 hours’ worth. Hmm. These must be pretty serious students.), both groups were given another crowding test. While the students who were given Tetris showed no improvement in their test results, it turned out that those who played Unreal Tournament were able to discern the orientation of the T more easily during the crowding test.

The conclusion? The University of Rochester research team believes that fast-paced action video games push our visual system to the limit, the brain adapts and creates new pathways to process visual information. They are currently constructing a 360-degree virtual reality computer gaming lab in order to further advance the study. If you’re interested in the results, their findings will be published in next week’s Psychological Science journal.

Via Rochester news

Here’s something that you can tell your mom the next time she tells you to stop playing all them darn action videogames. A recent study conducted by the University of Rochester produced results that show some action-based videogames may actually improve eyesight.

The study went like this: A group of students were divided into control groups and given a crowding test where the students in each group were asked to identify the orientation of the letter T on a page full of other distracting symbols and letters. The students’ response times were recorded for later comparison. The test groups were then given games to play for a month. One group got Tetris while the other was given Unreal Tournament.

A month of near-daily gaming later (which according to the article translates to about 30 hours’ worth. Hmm. These must be pretty serious students.), both groups were given another crowding test. While the students who were given Tetris showed no improvement in their test results, it turned out that those who played Unreal Tournament were able to discern the orientation of the T more easily during the crowding test.

The conclusion? The University of Rochester research team believes that fast-paced action video games push our visual system to the limit, the brain adapts and creates new pathways to process visual information. They are currently constructing a 360-degree virtual reality computer gaming lab in order to further advance the study. If you’re interested in the results, their findings will be published in next week’s Psychological Science journal.

Via Rochester news