Gone are the days when video games are thought to be all foul and no gain. A group of researchers from the University of Rochester reviewed several past studies and found that action-packed video games like Halo and Call of Duty have the ability to enhance visual attention. Review after review of different studies found that gamers consistently outperformed their non-gaming counterparts in tasks that required visual attention.
Visual attention is important to prevent sensory overload as the brain has to constantly take in an infinite amount of visual data. The aspect of fast-paced action games emphasising on rapid and accurate responses in collecting and dividing attention on visual information, appears to be the explanation towards this phenomenon.
The results suggest that these games can be used as a form of educational approach, as well as to improve military training and certain visual deficits, like amblyopia. Fighter pilots whose lives are dependent on visual attention will benefit largely from this. For an everyday example, the findings suggest that one’s ability to drive on the road while focusing on relevant stimuli and disregarding the irrelevant, can be enhanced through playing such games.
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Published in eye glamour (vol.18) under the World News section on January 2011.
