5 video games to train your brain

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3

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What if shooting bad guys could improve your eyesight? This is the question Daphne Batelier and her team of researchers at the University of Rochester asked in 2009. For their study, they compared two groups of players. One group that was familiar with simulation games (The Sims 2, in this case), and the other with experience of action/FPS games like Sniper Ghost Warrior 3, in which players shoot anything that moves. According to the study’s findings, the action/FPS group received a 58% boost in their "contrast sensitivity function" or, in plain English, their ability to see subtle changes in light within an image. The researchers believe that it is the act of locating and aiming at an enemy that trained the players’ eyes. In their view, this genre of game could even be used to correct some visual impairments.

Back to Bed

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Playing puzzle or logic games, or games that are a bit of both – like Back to Bed – for two hours every week may help slow the natural effects of ageing, such as the decline in mental capacity. At least that’s what a study from the University of Iowa found. It involved 681 participants aged 50+ who were tested on different kinds of video games, including one that had been specially designed for the study. Split into two groups, one played a traditional crossword game, while the other played Road Tour (since renamed Double Decision), a puzzle game in which players need to spot the right image of a car while simultaneously noting the location of particular signs, as an increasing number of distractions appear on the screen. With that game, playing for ten hours delayed the decline in certain cognitive abilities by 7 years. It’s all about getting your training in!