Action games broaden cognitive abilities

The human brain can learn and adapt. Numerous research studies have focused on the impact of action video games on the brain by measuring cognitive abilities, such as perception, attention and reaction time. The research has resulted in two meta-analyses, it reveal a significant improvement in the cognitive abilities of gamers. Psychologists have been studying the impact of video games on the brain ever since the late 80s, when Pacman and arcade games first took roots.

The present study focuses on one specific video game genre, action video (war or shooter) games that have long been considered as mind-numbing.
Some participants between the ages of 6 and 40, including action gamers and non-gamers, took a number of psychometric tests in studies conducted by laboratories across the world with the aim of evaluating their cognitive abilities. The assessments included spatial attention (e.g. quickly detecting a dog in a herd of animals) as well as assessing their skills at managing multiple tasks simultaneously and changing their plans according to pre-determined rules. It was found that the cognition of gamers was better by one-half of a standard deviation compared to non-gamers.

The psychologists proceeded to analyze intervention studies as part of the second meta-analysis. People (men and women) who played for a maximum of one hour a week were first tested for their cognitive abilities and then randomly divided into two groups: one played action games (war or shooter games), the other played control games (SIMS, Puzzle, Tetris). Both groups played for at least 8 hours over a week and up to 50 hours over 12 weeks. At the end of the training, participants underwent cognitive testing to measure any changes in their cognitive abilities.

The aim was to find out whether the effects of action gaming on the brain are causal.This active control group ensures that the effects resulting from playing action games really do result from the nature of this kind of game. In other words, they are not due to being part of a group that is asked to undertake an engrossing task or that is the center of scientific attention (placebo effect). Participants playing action videos increased their cognition more than those playing the control games with the difference in cognitive abilities between these two training groups being of one-third of a standard deviation. The research, which was carried out over several years all over the world, proves the real effects of action video games on the brain and paves the way for using action video games to expand cognitive abilities.

Despite the good news for avid gamers, it is worth highlighting that these beneficial effects were observed in studies that asked individuals to space their game play out over a period of many weeks to months rather than to engage in a large amount of gaming in a single sitting. As is true in any learning activity, short bouts of repeated practice is much preferred over binging!
The two meta-analyses, which covered fifteen years of research, underline the importance of sharing data between different laboratories in order to validate results on an international level without suffering from biases specific to each experiment and working group. Moreover, these meta-analyses help to further improve our understanding of the brain's plasticity and potentially create games specifically designed to develop attention or spatial cognition.
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Development of brain networks

According to new research, the brains of smart people are wired differently, it allows them to absorb important facts quickly – while blocking out irrelevant information. Scientists used MRI scans on many volunteers to shed light on the nature of intelligence. They had already identified areas of the brain that control IQ and now they have uncovered the mechanism behind it. Researchers said it is possible for people to make themselves more intelligent with brain training games.

Researchers discovered that regions interact more closely in brainy individuals – while others disconnect themselves. In more intelligent people, certain regions are clearly more strongly involved in the exchange of information between different 'sub networks' of neurons. This enables important information to be communicated faster, and more efficiently. On the other hand, the researchers also identified areas that are disconnected, or 'de-coupled', from the rest of the brain in brighter people.
They believe this results in better protection against distracting and irrelevant material.

It is possible that due to their biological predispositions, some individuals develop brain networks that favour intelligent behaviours or more challenging cognitive tasks. However, the frequent use of the brain for cognitively challenging tasks may positively influence the development of brain networks. Smart thinking requires various portions of the brain working together like different parts of an engine.

Differences in academic success and professional careers are attributed to a considerable degree to cognitive abilities. Higher level thinking are rooted in the patterns of integration among parts of the brain called functional modules.It combined the brain scans from the participants with an analysis of mathematical graphs of their networks of neurons to come up with the first neurobiological basis of human intelligence.

 The two brain regions involved in the cognitive processing of 'task relevant' information - the anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex - are connected more efficiently to the rest of the brain. Another brain region, the junction area between temporal and parietal cortex that has been related to the shielding of thoughts against irrelevant information, is less strongly connected to the rest of the network.

The different topological embedding of these regions into the brain network could make it easier for smarter persons to differentiate between important and irrelevant information – which would be advantageous for many cognitive challenges. This is similar to a social network which consists of multiple sub-networks, for example: families, or circles of friends. Within these sub-networks or modules, the members of one family are more strongly interconnected than they are with people from other families or circles of friends.

Human brain is functionally organised in a very similar way. There are sub-networks of brain regions – modules that are more strongly interconnected among themselves while they have weaker connections to brain regions from other modules. Researchers examined whether the role of specific brain regions for communication within and among brain modules varies with individual differences in intelligence- whether a specific brain region supports the information exchange within their more than information exchange with other families, and how this relates to individual differences in intelligence.
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