Recently I came across a research on the harmful effects of playing video games. It was done at Japanese University, and the researchers concluded that the excessive playing of video games, computer games and playstations effect one’s brain.
I would like to have your experiences on that.
Here is the excerpt from “cnet” for you to go through.
Scientists at Japan’s Tohoku University said they’ve found that computer games stimulate only those parts of the brain devoted to vision and movement and do not aid the development of other important areas of the brain.
The researchers are particularly concerned that by spending many hours playing games some children will not develop their frontal lobes, which play a crucial role in controlling behavior and in developing memory, emotion and learning.
In contrast, tasks such as arithmetic stimulate brain activity in the frontal lobe, which is thought to continue developing until adulthood.
Professor Ryuta Kawashima, who led the team that carried out the research, told The Observer that the discovery is highly important.
“There is a problem we will have with a new generation of children–who play computer games–that we have never seen before,” he said. “The implications are very serious for an increasingly violent society, and these students will be doing more and more bad things if they are playing games and not doing other things like reading aloud or learning arithmetic.”
Kawashima asserts that children must be encouraged to practice basic mathematics, reading and writing to boost the development of the frontal lobe. He is convinced that children who play video games excessively will not develop their frontal lobes and will consequently be more prone to violent acts because they will be less able to control their behavior.
The study looked at the brain activity of hundreds of students playing a Nintendo game and compared it with other students who were carrying out basic arithmetic. It found that much more brain activity was needed to solve the simple mathematic tasks than was used to play the computer games and that activity in the frontal lobe varied significantly.
Well I can't say anything about how it affects the brain or not but anything in excess is bad for you. It doesn't say much about how they came to their conclusion, just that it was a Nintendo game.
It says that if kids keep playing video games and don't do things that they should be doing, then they won't develop properly, which I think is just common sense.
All it means that one has to be very careful and either not be engaged in this activity excessively or let their children spend time on these games for extended period of time.
**The visual and tactile dexterity does develop along with many other good/quick decision making habits but none of these ensure that the person will be successful (specially in multitasking skills) in real life.
**It can be deduced hence that, the person may still be smart or even dumb in real life, despite being great at playing these video games.
Actually its not common sense. Firstly it would be important to know what the sample pool is for this research are they dealing with FPS, RPGs or good old Hello Kitty?
Video games are far more sophisticated than the day of Mario and Link. They require active thinking, team based skills and the ability to communicate information and realize potential hazards to a situation.
If you have the chance watch kids play any on line competitive game. It is amazing how actively they communicate, problem solve and find solutions in a quick time frame.
I will try to find the article or the document but Harvard Business school stated in one of its research documents that MMORPG (Massive multiplayer online role-playing games) lead to strong skill sets that are needed in strong high end business environments.
^This guy is an expert in technology so it's not surprising that he's a gamer, come back when you have a gamer president or gamer scholars and philosophers.
Kawashima asserts that children must be encouraged to practice basic mathematics, reading and writing to boost the development of the frontal lobe. He is convinced that children who play video games excessively will not develop their frontal lobes and will consequently be more prone to violent acts because they will be less able to control their behavior.
The study looked at the brain activity of hundreds of students playing a Nintendo game and compared it with other students who were carrying out basic arithmetic. It found that much more brain activity was needed to solve the simple mathematic tasks than was used to play the computer games and that activity in the frontal lobe varied significantly.
Anything done in excess can be detrimental. And this would also also include focusing solely on the core subjects. Activities need to be varied to promote development of the brain. It's also said that incorporating physical movement with studying of core subjects leads to greater internalization of the material.
Involving yourself in activities that require more critical thinking activates the dendrite connections in your brain...leading to greater brain development. I remember reading about an experiment involving two rats. Food was made easily accessible to one rat...whereas the other had to undergo several physical obstacles in order to get to the food. The former's brain was less developed than the latter. Similar case with human beings. Mind enhancing/developing need not be confined to math/science/writing/reading....they can include other challenging situations as well.
I was addicted to SEGA GAMES and I have been a all karachi position holder + I had 3rd highest CGPA in my MBA class :)
But I would never allow my own daughter to play video games for more than an hour or an hour & a half. May be the research gives correct results I don't know I am not going to judge it but yes too much of anything is bad.
I agree with RV that involving in activities that requires more critical thinking activates the dendrite connections in brain which in turn leads to greater brain development.
It astounds me how closed minded some people are. And when their preconceptions are challenged, they can only make insults.
So gamers are dumb? Even the ones that are experts in their field? Being an expert in tech isn't worthy? Even thought without them you wouldn't be sitting at your computer making posts?
Without engineers, the world as you know it wouldn't exist. All the medical progress aided by technology is down to 'geeks'.
I could go on to cite the work of a colleague (who is also a serious gamer), in the bio-nanoelectronics field (but I won't). Mine own which is purely nanoelectronics, lacking the humane angle probably isn't worthy enough for you.
All I know is that I'm in academia, working with other academics and we have loads of hardcore gamers amongst us.
My brother is an engineer as well as devoting a lot of his time towards learning Arabic and Islam very seriously. He's travelled all over the middle east in his quest for knowledge and is going to Mauritania next week to be amongst scholars. We grew up gaming together, in fact we spent most of our summer holiday's playing games and still do when there is game that is worth it. He's fitter than most people as well, taking part in extreme running competitions.
If someone is dumb and lethargic by nature, they will be that way regardless of videogames.
For the rest of us, we fit gaming into our lives alongside many other hobbies and pursuits.
