Most of us will have occasionally passed the time by playing video games. Whether it’s playing a puzzle game like Candy Crush Saga on the morning commute, or enjoying some casino games as evening entertainment, it’s clear that we’re becoming a world of gamers.

And whilst we all know how games are getting evermore entertaining, there’s a growing amount of research that suggests that playing video games could even help us become better humans.

Although it’s easy to see how some of Nintendo’s Wii Fit games can encourage us to live more active lifestyles, a recent study that was published in Psychology Today showed that action video games can also improve our hand-to-eye coordination skills.

This study reaffirms what many people have suggested in that video games require more from their user than passive activities like watching television, and so they could actually be good for us.

However, it is important to remember that it is virtually impossible to judge how any skills learned from video games could be applied to the real world. Whilst playing online casino games at InterCasino could obviously give you a helping hand for the next time you enter a physical casino, it’s harder to judge how playing a few rounds of Super Mario is going to help anyone.

But it seems that some researchers have found that playing 3D games like Super Mario 3D World has had the surprising effect of improving players powers of recollection. It is thought that these 3D games are more powerful as they involve spatial information and their complexity requires more engagement from the player, and therefore it gives our grey matter more to work with.

This suggests that our brains are hardwired for actively learning, rather than merely passively receiving information. And it goes some way as to explaining how everything from a simple game of Sudoku, to some of the latest smartphone brain-training apps like Lumosity have become hugely popular ways for people to try and improve their mental dexterity.

The big problem is trying to quantify how these supposed brain-training games actually boost our mental abilities. There has been plenty of speculation as to how anything from a casino game like blackjack to strategy games like Starcraft II are able improve our intelligence levels.

But in terms of providing a clear link between video gaming and improved mental dexterity, there is still some way to go.

 

 

Via #GadgetTalk