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hubie [soylentnews.org] writes:

Study: Video Game Players Show Enhanced Brain Activity, Decision-Making Skill [gsu.edu]:

Frequent players of video games show superior sensorimotor decision-making skills and enhanced activity in key regions of the brain as compared to non-players, according to a recent study by Georgia State University researchers.

The authors, who used functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) in the study, said the findings suggest that video games could be a useful tool for training in perceptual decision-making.

"Video games are played by the overwhelming majority of our youth more than three hours every week, but the beneficial effects on decision-making abilities and the brain are not exactly known," said lead researcher Mukesh Dhamala [gsu.edu], associate professor in Georgia State's Department of Physics and Astronomy and the university's Neuroscience Institute [gsu.edu].

"Our work provides some answers on that," Dhamala said. "Video game playing can effectively be used for training — for example, decision-making efficiency training and therapeutic interventions — once the relevant brain networks are identified."

[...] "These results indicate that video game playing potentially enhances several of the subprocesses for sensation, perception and mapping to action to improve decision-making skills," the authors wrote. "These findings begin to illuminate how video game playing alters the brain in order to improve task performance and their potential implications for increasing task-specific activity."

The study also notes there was no trade-off between speed and accuracy of response — the video game players were better on both measures.

"This lack of speed-accuracy trade-off would indicate video game playing as a good candidate for cognitive training as it pertains to decision-making," the authors wrote.

Journal Reference:
Timothy Jordana and Mukesh Dhamala, Video game players have improved decision-making abilities and enhanced brain activities [open], Neuroimage: Reports, 2, 3, 2022. DOI: 10.1016/j.ynirp.2022.100112 [doi.org]

Original Submission