Gaming a Cure for Senility? Canadian Brain Study Encouraging

We've all heard gamers described as "juveniles who can't grow up." But ironically, some argue that this is due to games' "anti-aging" effect on the brain.

According to a Toronto university study reported in the Globe & Mail, the effects of being a "video game player" were comparable to learning a second language: improved multitasking, visual skills and short term memory.

The study, which looked at 100 undergraduates, found that gamers consistently out-performed their fellow "non-gamers" in mental tests. Those who were bilingual gamers scored even higher.

Prof. Ellen Bialystok suspects gamers, like bilinguals, have learned the ability to block out information that is irrelevant to the task at hand. A new study, published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, shows the elderly lose the ability to "power up" certain "task-handling" areas of the brain, such as the frontal lobe, and to "power down" inner brain regions that are active when a person is in "idle/default mode." Those between the ages of 20-30 have no problem "switching gears" between idle mode and focusing on a task, but the ability declines with age. Studies have long shown that learning a second language slows this decline.

Shitij Kapur, a neuroscientist at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, says "it would be quite reasonable to expect that these teens are good at multitasking, because they grow up in a world that demands it." Although he notes that the next generation will likely be able to out-perform those that came before it, so it's a "relative impairment."

Although Prof. Bialystok is a strong supporter of bilingualism, she's concerned about the other effects of videogames, such as desensitization to violence, and that they may distract from other activities. "I'd still be plenty concerned if my child played them all the time... Sure, they're getting better at rapid search and response problems, but I really would prefer my child read a book."

J: The catch here, like learning a second language, or learning to play an instrument, is that the younger you start, the greater the effect, due to the fact that a young brain is easier to "train" to multitask. And of course, moderation is key, which is also better learned at a younger age. Props to Verbinator, et al. for sending this in.

I found it funny to learn that the brain naturally loses "frontal lobe" abilities as it ages, but that gaming and bilingualism slows this loss. So much for "frontal lobe damage"...

-Jabrwock