Do you play video games? If so, you aren't alone. Video games are becoming more common and are increasingly enjoyed by adults. The average age of gamers has been increasing and was estimated to be 35 in 2016. Changing technology also means that more people are exposed to video games. A new breed of casual gamers has come, who play on smart phones and tablets at spare moments throughout the day. But do they have any effect on our brains and behavior?
Over the years, the media have made various claims about video games and their effect on our health and happiness. "Games have sometimes been praised or demonized, often without real data backing up those claims. Moreover, gaming is a popular activity, so everyone seems to have strong opinions on the topic", says Marc Palaus, who with his colleagues wanted to see if any trends had appeared from the research to date concerning how video games affect the structure and activity of our brains. They collected the results from 116 scientific studies, 22 of which looked at structural changes in the brain and 100 of which looked at changes in brain functionality and behavior.
The studies show that playing video games can change how our brains perform; and even their structure. For example, playing video games affects our attention, and some studies found that gamers show improvements in several types of attention, such as sustained attention or selective attention. Video games can also be addictive, and this kind of addiction is called "Internet gaming disorder". Researchers have found functional and structural changes in the neural (神经的) reward system in gaming addicts. These neural changes are basically the same as those seen in other addictive disorders.
So, what do all these brain changes mean? "We focused on how the brain reacts to video game exposure, but these effects do not always translate to real-life changes," says Palaus. As video games are still quite new, the research into their effects is still in its babyhood.
