Brain On Video Games Summary

In the world video games are mostly thought of by parents as having a negative impact on our brains, but actually, there could be life lessons involved in playing video games. There could be certain situations involved. There is a game called “Diner Dash”, which presents a certain situation within a restaurant in which a player has to manage many things at once. If a person ever wanted to go in the restaurant industry they could learn from this game with the pressures of taking orders, helping the diner’s needs and waiting tables. I feel this could be good for kids, and taking from Carr’s idea, they could adapt to the situation with their brains.

Do you remember the first time you played a video game? Was it Super Mario Brothers, Call of Duty, or Minesweeper? How about the time your parents told you that video games will rot your brain? Well forget all that, this paper is going to tell you the benefits of playing video games. My claim is that video games can help you with leadership skills, problem solving, education, and cognitive function.

Playing certain video games can have cognitive benefits. Specific video games, like Tetris, have been shown to have positive effects on spatial rotation, while games like Grand Theft Auto V have been shown to increase reaction times within gamers. Open-ended games and interactive games improve problem-solving skills by learning to solve things through trial and error. Interactive games are shown to improve creativity as well. People who play shooter video games show faster and more accurate attention allocation, higher spatial resolution in visual processing, and enhanced mental rotation abilities than those who don’t (Granic, Lobel, & Engels, 2014). Other cognitive benefits of playing video games include improved coordination, enhanced memory, enhanced multitasking skills, and improves attention. Even though, most video games show some kind of cognitive effect, most robust effects come from shooter games, rather than puzzle games (Green & Bavelier, 2012).

Video games are a enormous part in the world today. “More than 150 million people in the United States play video games regularly or for at least three hours per week. The number of sales has increased and in 2016, 24.5 billion games were sold, up from 23.2 billion in 2015.” “This Type of Video Game May Actually Harm Your Brain.” written by Mahita Gajanan is my positive article and “How Video Games Affect the Brain.” written by Hannah Nichols is my negative article. In this essay I am going to talk about video games and their impact on the brain (Nichols).

Everybody in this country plays video games almost every day. It does not matter what the age is, even though they are not young and have free time they would play video games and enjoy themselves. People and society says that through video games children’s and also some adults become more aggressive and violent. Video games are contributing the act of violence all over the world and they are thinking to stop video games for their benefit. The media makes false assumptions. They are not giving details of video games and missing the benefits of the video games. According to medical daily new research indicates that certain video games actually boost the brain power and improve strategic thinking. Unfortunately, our parents and society does not approve the use of video games and it has been decried by many parents and it creates destructive garbage. It also improves the cognitive flexibility which is the mental faculty of creative and lateral thinking. According to Ericson, “Our paper shows that cognitive flexibility, a cornerstone of human intelligence, is not a static trait can be trained and improved using fun learning tools alike gaming”.(Medical Daily) This is the necessary part of our human brain and it can be achieved by video games and other fun learning activities. There are many advantages just like these from playing video games. They should also look at the benefits and not just focus on the disadvantages. It also helps from

To begin, video games can be used a way to escape the reality when times are hard for someone. In the article, “Playing video games is good for your brain” by Mark Griffiths, a Washington Post journalist, states an example on how video games can be used as a way to forget about what’s going on in the real world. For example, when Mark says, “Because video games can be so engaging, they can also be used therapeutically.” (Mark). In other words, video games can be used as a way to get your mind off of things during bad times. Another example is when Mark says, ”In another experiment, they trained gamers who had little previous experience of playing action games, giving them 50 hours practice. It was shown that these gamers performed much better on perceptual tasks than they had prior to their training.” (Mark). To clarify, multiple experiments were used to

Video games can train the human brain so it become strong and faster at thinking. Since video games have fast action paced content, they become a virtually gym for your brain. Also, because of the action in a game there are a lot of eye hand coordination and quick problem solving skills involved in playing a game. The article “Are video games bad for me?” says“... can improve eye-hand coordination, problem solving skills, and the mind’s ability to process information.” This quote shows the many quick skills one person can improve by playing video games such as eye hand coordination, problem solving skills and the mind’s ability to process information. The quick skills that are need to play video games can be practiced and learned by play video games. Considering this, the number of things video games can teach children are

The impact video games have on the brain can differ by the opinions of others. Some may argue that it is a disadvantage and others may say it is the total opposite, an advantage. I will be exploring the viewpoints on both ends of the spectrum. Looking into documented research on the topic, I will be discussing the benefits of gaming, why people correlate excessive playing time to negative behaviors, and the long term effects that video games cause to the brain.

“A new wave of research has found surprising advantages in an activity that many call a waste of time, if not an outright menace”(Paragraph 5). Some video games can be very helpful like math games and grammar games. Video games are considered a waste of time, but it can be very helpful in education and in many other ways. “Scientists have recently linked gaming with increased brain power, making better moral decisions and even physical fitness”(Paragraph 6) Video games are being proven to help people make better choices. On the other hand, they also have been linked with fitness and strength. This said, video games are improving daily life and

Gaming may be used for more than just simple entertainment. As studies have shown that playing video games and in this experiment Mario 64 have shown to help people with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s dementia. What neurodegenerative diseases does is makes you lose the function of neurons which utilmy cause a loss to memory and decision thinking. And one of the big neurodegenerative diseases is Alzheimer’s dementia and symptoms include loss of memory behavioral problems and loss of self-care and eventually death. The point of the treatment is people who play video games have shown an increase gray matter in the right hippocampal formation. And the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and bilater cerebellum. So since playing video

Many video games have aspects that teach gamers about math, spelling, managing resources, understanding world problems, as well as learning about animals and countries. Based on some scientific research, some games are also a way to mitigate the effects of dyslexia. Both video games and physical sports assist their players in problem-solving and decision-making skills. Role-play games are a major genre of video game that improves these skills. In both versions of games, online and physical, players must make difficult decisions based on complex problems.

Video games can improve visual skills and brain function. Video games increase spatial awareness. When playing different video games eyes are focused on a video game a person are more likely to gain different eye strengths after training the brain. Action video games train the brain to better process certain visual information. When people play action video games, they’re changing the brain’s pathway responsible for visual processing (Masnick 1). Video games change brain functions. Researchers today are reporting that first-person-shooter

In today’s society, the concerns for the effects of video games have acquired quite a terrible reputation. Worried parents around the world assume video games make their children do poorly in school, and create violent, desensitized, antisocial children. The increase in violent games, usually get the blame for aggressive behavior, shootings and violence in schools and young individuals. Most beliefs about video games effect on the brain and emotions are very common misconceptions. I strongly believe that video games are an essential tool to learning and gaining much-needed skills. When people look at the studies that have been done on video games and the brain, it will be apparent that some myths about video games have been blown out of proportion. It has come to my attention that there are studies that prove the negative effects of video games may only last the duration of game play. Kids can improve in general knowledge with educational video games like Leap Frog. Video games can train specific areas of the brain as well as increase brain flexibility and memory. Gaming actually has more beneficial effects than negative effects. Video games are excellent educational implement used in elementary schools. It is extremely helpful in brain development and helping kids with trouble reading improve. Memory retention can be improved and increased with the use of strategic, thinking games. Video games, as funny as it might sound, even promote

Simulation, adventure, and role playing games are another type of video game that produces positive results in skill levels (Morgan 2003). Simulations games are widely used in training various areas:

Playing video games is among one of the favorite pastimes of many people around the world. Some play games to kill time with simple tasks found most commonly on the phone, while others play them to challenge their mind in the form of complex puzzles or to practice management skills, some play them to experience a sense of adventure that they just can’t find anywhere else, and many use them as a way to communicate or have fun with friends both near and far. Whatever the reason someone may have for playing video games, they may not think that games can have an effect on their brains. Some would say that playing video games can lead to negative effects such as harming the player’s cognitive skills or causing them to become much more violent than normal. Others would argue that playing video games quickens the minds of their players, leading to higher mental performance or an increased attention to detail. Thanks to this hotly debated controversy many studies have been conducted over the past years in order to settle the debate once and for all. So what effect can playing video games have on the cognitive skills of their players, and are these effects positive, negative, or somewhere in the middle?