A study by scientists at the University of Vermont suggests that video games may help to improve intelligence in children.
According to the Daily Mail, researchers found kids who averaged three or more hours a day on video games were better at cognitive and memory tests than their non-gaming peers.
Dr. Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which funded the study, told the Mail: “Numerous studies have linked video gaming to behavior and mental health problems. This study suggests that there may also be cognitive benefits associated with this popular pastime, which are worthy of further investigation.”
In the study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, data from 2,078 American children was analyzed with 1,278 saying they’d never played video games while 800 said they did for at least three hours a day.
Researchers say playing video games may improve attention and impulse control because the practice of these skills are required.
Dr. Bader Chaarani, a psychiatrist at Vermont University who led the study, told the Daily Mail: “While we cannot say whether playing video games regularly caused superior neuro-cognitive performance, it’s an encouraging finding and one we must continue to investigate in these children as they transition into adolescence and adulthood.”
The data was analyzed between Oct. 2019 and Oct. 2020.
