Playing shooter video games damages the brain, study suggests

[Tennis]

Playing “shooter” video games weakens the brains of young people and puts them at greater risk of dementia in later life, new research suggests.

A trial in Canada found that those who spent a lot of time playing games such as Call of Duty had less grey matter in a crucial part of the brain.

Scientists behind the research have cautioned doctors against recommending video games as a means of boosting older people’s cognitive function, warning the activity may be harming their ability to retain memories.

Previous research has shown that people with depleted amounts of white matter in their hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for orientation and for recalling past experience, face a higher risk of neurological illnesses including Alzheimer’s, depression and schizophrenia.

Video games have been shown to benefit certain cognitive systems related to visual attention and short-term memory, but were suspected to damage the hippocampus.

Researchers at the University of Montreal scanned the brains of habitual players of action video games and compared them to non-players, finding the gamers had less grey matter.

"If action video games lead to decreases in grey matter in the hippocampus, caution should be exerted when encouraging their use by children, young adults and older adults to promote cognitive skills such as visual short-term memory and visual attention," the scientists wrote

Gaming has been shown to stimulate another part of the brain called the caudate nucleus, more than the hippocampus.

The region acts as a form of “autopilot” and also regulates humans’ understanding of reward.

The scientists said that the more the caudate nucleus is used, the less use is made of the hippocampus, causing it to lose cells.

They recruited 51 men and 46 women and asked them to play a variety of popular shooter games like Call of Duty, Killzone and Borderlands 2, as well as so-called 3D games such as Super Mario, for a total of 90 hours.

Ninety hours of playing shooter games tended to lead to hippocampus atrophy, however playing for the same duration on 3D challenges, which rely more on spatial orientation instinctive responses, increased grey matter within the hippocampal memory system.

The researchers said that those players who tended to orientate themselves in video games using landmarks rather than remembering directions were likely to benefit from playing, however these were in the minority.

British scientists have cautioned against drawing firm conclusions from the study, highlighting the small number of participants.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2...tudy-suggests/

Whew. I barely play games with shooting so I should be fine. How about you?

[Deleted]

You can get brain damage in other ways. No reason to believe you should be fine.

[Belize]

That's... not what the study says.

This is analogous to skipping leg day.

[Cerilis]

Didnt we have this thread already some time ago?

[noidentity]

Tennisbait, please at least try to read the crap you post.

[Post]

So it strengthens one part, and if you do nothing else your other parts will be weaker than that part. K.

Man the crusade against video games is and has always been dumb.

[Kaleredar]

"British scientists have cautioned against drawing firm conclusions from the study, highlighting the small number of participants. "


Ended the thread in the first post.

[Schmeebs]

but but, its a tennisace troll thread, why would it lie?

[Belize]

"British scientists have cautioned against drawing firm conclusions from the study, highlighting the small number of participants. "


Ended the thread in the first post.

Especially considering the article totally misrepresent the study.

It actually says that shooters exercise the rapid response and reflex part of your brain, while not exercising the long term planning part.

As I said, its analogous to only exercising your arms, while skipping your legs then saying gyms are bad for your muscles.

[Super Kami Dende]

97 people. only played 90hrs and the 90 hours wasn't even all on the shooters..

Thats like.. 2 weeks of gaming for most people. Study sounds like bogus shit.

[Tennis]

Tennisbait, please at least try to read the crap you post.

I posted an article, bolded some important parts and kept the same title for accuracy.

[oplawlz]

I posit that reading stupid studies damages the brain.

[Hisholyness]

Seems more like people that play shooter games are less intellectually active and therefore are more likely to have more gray matter.

Sounds like a comeback for 10 year old boys who have slept with your mother

[shadowmouse]

I barely games with shooting so I should be fine.

The missing verb suggests he may be mistaken.

[Dug]

reading this forum damages the brain

source: me, brain damaged person

[Dispraise]

Limited study with small number of participants and short duration suggests that certain types of activities may make greater use of certain parts of the brain over others.

SHOCKER.

[Mistame]

This is a duplicate thread:

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...ighlight=games

[draynay]

How does parroting bullshit affect one's brain?

[Mormolyce]

In addition to:

British scientists have cautioned against drawing firm conclusions from the study, highlighting the small number of participants.

There's also a big gulf between studies that track the topography of the brain and actual incidence of developmental disorders etc.

But I'm surprised nobody's taken a swipe at CoD players yet...

[Sky High]

Close this, we already had a thread on this bogus "study".