[ExI] video games impact on grey matter

[Christian Saucier]

Thinking is good for the brain!

On 8/12/2017 3:23 PM, William Flynn Wallace wrote:
> http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/08/09/542215646/video-games-may-affect-the-brain-differently-depending-on-what-you-play?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits
>
> Video games help/hurt the brain.  Take your pick, but I say that
> shrinking the hypothalamus is not a good result no matter how you look
> at it.

The difference between a "first-person shooting game" and "3D-platform
games" used in this study seem very narrow to me.  I would be interested
to know the specific games that were used. 

Maybe another way to view this conclusion is simply this: If you use
your hippocampus, it will grow grey matter; if you do not use your
hippocampus, it will lose grey matter.  This should apply not only to
the playing of video games, but to practically any other types of human
action.

This is the summary of that study from nature.com: "The hippocampus is
critical to healthy cognition, yet results in the current study show
that action video game players have reduced grey matter within the
hippocampus. A subsequent randomised longitudinal training experiment
demonstrated that first-person shooting games reduce grey matter within
the hippocampus in participants using non-spatial memory strategies.
Conversely, participants who use hippocampus-dependent spatial
strategies showed increased grey matter in the hippocampus after
training. A control group that trained on 3D-platform games displayed
growth in either the hippocampus or the functionally connected
entorhinal cortex. A third study replicated the effect of action video
game training on grey matter in the hippocampus. These results show that
video games can be beneficial or detrimental to the hippocampal system
depending on the navigation strategy that a person employs and the genre
of the game." --
http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/mp2017155a.html

C.

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