What Gaming Does to Your Brain—and How You Might Benefit
What Gaming Does to Your Brain—and How You Might Benefit
What Gaming Does to Your Brain—and How You Might Benefit
By Thom James Carter
June 26, 2021
Summary
The gaming community has long referred to the orc- and elf-filled game as "World of Warcrack."
Scientifically, do video games-from MMORPGs to shooters to RPGs-affect our brains? And despite the drawbacks, can the brain benefit from video games?
"One key aspect to understand how addictions work is the reward system of the brain. The reward system mediates how pleasant stimuli act as positive reinforcers for behavior." Once our brains have been exposed to something pleasurable, we often want more-and video games are certainly no exception.
In Bavelier's TEDxCHUV talk "Your Brain on Video Games," she makes the case that playing action games like Call of Duty in reasonable doses is positively powerful.
Despite video game research being a recent phenomenon, it's proven that video games do provide out-and-out brain gains-good news for those of us partial to a video game.
So what can be done so our brains benefit from +3 agility and +3 intelligence without suffering from -5 stamina? How can a healthy relationship with video games be sustained? As C. Shawn Green-who, along with earning a PhD in Brain and Cognitive Studies, worked as a game developer on the Doom series-said to WIRED: "What healthy gameplay might look like in practice may differ greatly across individuals, and across the lifespan. In other words, there really aren't any one-size-fits-all guidelines for healthy gameplay that will work for everyone-is-a-different-size human beings." Generally speaking it's important to be aware of how gaming may impact other areas of our lives in the short and long term, Green says.
By remaining cognizant of our own gaming habits, making sure to log off sometimes to do other things, and by ultimately playing video games in a way that doesn't unrestrictedly keep us on the hedonic treadmill, there's potential to leverage gaming to be mentally more resilient, quicker, and smarter IRL. More Great WIRED Stories.
Reference
Carter, T. (2021, June 26). What gaming does to your brain-and how you might benefit. Retrieved September 29, 2021, from https://www.wired.com/story/what-gaming-does-to-your-brain-how-you-might-benefit/