Action Video Games Are Better For The Brain Than 'Brain Games', Say Scientists

Surprisingly, action games can make you smarter than 'brain games' according to a recent study. The impact of a video game is in its "content, mechanics and dynamics", say scientists.

Due to the different specificity of every game, diverse results have been noticed.

Scientists have compared video games to food. "The term video games refers to thousands of quite disparate types of experiences, anything from simple computerized card games to richly detailed and realistic fantasy worlds, from a purely solitary activity to an activity including hundreds of others, etc. A useful analogy is to the term food - one would never ask, 'What is the effect of eating food on the body?' Instead, it is understood that the effects of a given type of food depend on the composition of the food such as the number of calories; the percentage of protein, fat, and carbohydrates; the vitamin and mineral content; and so on," the research team wrote, PsyPost  reported.

The action games involving "quick and accurate movements and decision making", help to enhance the brain's attention skills, processing, cognitive function, and even low-level vision, wrote Shawn Green and Aaron Seitz, main authors of the study.

However, on the other hand, brain games that have been designed to improve cognitive function do not lead to the same results.

The study was published in Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences.