If you thought playing video games was an utter waste of time, think again. It have been discovered that playing video games in which you are expected to do multiple tasks simultaneously can actually improve brain function in the elderly. It is a known fact that with age there is degradation of cognitive function, which is where such video games come in.
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Game manufactures since the beginning have tried to really market the idea that playing games is a good thing. An example of it that comes to mind is of a little boy, who was into gaming, and it was this passion of his that helped him stop the vehicle he was in, when his grandmother got sick at the wheel. In other words, the skills he had acquired playing video games really came in handy, helping him possibly save his own life along with his grandmother’s.
Adam Gazzaly from the University of California led a team of neuroscientists that conclusively proved that video games are actually beneficial for the elderly. They arrived at this conclusion by running a series of tests. To begin with, a group of people ranging from the age of 20 to the age of 70 were made to play a game called “Neuro Racer”. It is a game that requires some complex maneuvering. In the end, the results of the experiment revealed that the oldest in the test group performed the worst.
The results of the experiment were on expected lines, but little did the scientists know that they were in for a surprise. When a test group ranging from the age of 60 to 85 was made to play “Neuro Racer” for a month, the final results were something that astonished the scientists. Thanks to a whole month of practice, this group of elderly test subjects managed to better the performance of the 20 year olds who had played the game earlier. This conclusively proved that playing video games regularly can really benefit the elderly.
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Dr. Joaquin Anguera one of the lead scientists working on this project, while talking about the experiment was quoted as saying: “Other studies have shown that games can improve cognitive function. But the most important thing we found is that videogames can have beneficial effects on other tasks if they’re properly designed.” Truly, this experiment does open up a lot of unexplored scientific avenues.
