Being a gamer also has its advantages, as a study from Canada now shows. Anyone who games at least 5 hours a week has a much younger brain than average.
What kind of study is this? Western University, based in Canada, looked at 2,000 test subjects and gained interesting findings. Those who play video games do better on the tests, and those who spend a lot of time playing video games do even better.
Anyone who previously believed that video games were stupid now has proof to the contrary.
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Video games are brain training
What did the study find? The university’s “Brain and Body” study (via Creyos.com) surveyed 2,000 participants from around the world. It was also recorded whether people play video games and how many hours per week.
After the questionnaires, the participants were then asked to play brain games. The brain games were designed to test attention span, memory, logical thinking and language skills. The researchers then compared the results with the questionnaires.
It found that people who play a single type of video game for at least 5 hours per week tend to have cognitive abilities equivalent to those 13.7 years younger.
Anyone who gambles but spends less than 5 hours per week playing a single type of video game still has an advantage. Here, the cognitive abilities should correspond to those of people 5.2 years younger.
Do video games also have an impact on mental health? Although video games are said to be good for brain performance, the study cannot prove a connection to mental health. Video games seem to have neither a positive nor a negative effect on mental health.
When it comes to sports, however, things are different. The study finds that exercise is good for health, but does not improve cognitive health.
So if you want to do something good for your body, you should play video games and do sports. According to the study, people who exercise for 150 minutes per week already have an advantage. E-athletes also often do sports away from their computers as a form of relaxation: This is how hard a Counter-Strike 2 professional trains to become the best of them all