Casual Games Boost the Brain

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An ongoing study out of East Carolina University’s psychophysiology lab has released information regarding the relationship between playing casual games, such as PopCap’s Bejeweled and Peggle, and improvement in both cognitive response time and executive cognitive function (doing things faster and getting them right).

The study group consists of adults over the age of 50 and focuses on the short term cognitive abilities measured by both electroencephalography (EEG) and parts A and B of the standardized Trail Making Test™, a timed neurological test that incorporates numbers and/or letters in a ‘connect the dots’ format.

Compared to the control group, those who played 30 minute sessions of either Bejeweled or Peggle showed significant improvements in both areas (87% in cognitive response time and 215% in executive function).

“The initial results of the study are very intriguing, in that they suggest that the ‘active participation’ required while playing a casual video game like Bejeweled provides an opportunity for mental exercise that more passive activities, like watching television, do not,” said Russoniello. “Future applications could include prescriptive applications using casual video games to potentially stave off Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-type disorders.”

What’s interesting to me is that, according to the University, these results are similar to those associated with other types of cognitive interventions such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and cognitive remediation therapy. Now I don’t know about you, but a round of Peggle sounds much more intriguing to me than cognitive remediation therapy, but perhaps a combination of therapy and games could have a more synergistic effect.

“Video games with more complex rules and controls, and more sophisticated or detailed imagery — so-called ‘hardcore’ video games — might provide similar cognitive benefits for many people,” said Russoniello. “But those games take significantly longer to learn to play and appeal to a considerably narrower subset of the overall population, especially older consumers. In our experience, ‘casual’ video games are ideal both in terms of their accessibility and ease of understanding and because they appeal to nearly everyone.”

The study is still underway and should finish sometime later this year. More than 40 participants have been included thus far, with dozens more to be tested before the study is done. So far the results are positive. So I say – keep gaming, people, but stay balanced and mindful – that seems to be the key idea to take away here.