The term video gaming is often attached to the disadvantages caused to kids and adults. The omnipresent statistics of gaming addiction and physical and mental issues caused has made video gaming a bad hobby among people. However, deeming those facts right, video gaming has its perks too. The positive association between brain and video gaming is often unnoticed. Addiction is never a good thing. It is essential to make the benefits work for you, confining video gaming to a hobby rather than falling prey to its addictive nature.
Physical Therapy All by Yourself
Stroke victims are treated with video games to help regain the strength of their hands and wrists. To a relatively healthy individual, controlled, controller-based games can do wonders in their actions. In addition, studies prove that people who play video games are faster and make fewer mistakes than those who do not.
Increase Brain’s Gray Matter
Playing video games can increase the brain’s gray matter and, in turn, its connectivity.
What Is Gray Matter?
Gray matter consists of neural cell bodies, axon terminals, and dendrites, and nerve synapses. This is where actual processing happens in the brain.
Decision-Making and Problem Solving
Decision-making works primarily on planning. Video games are about tasks and accomplishing them to reach goals. Games require planning, instant decision-making, and problem-solving. Gamers can develop this and implement them in life as well.
Increase Memory Power
Hippocampus is the part of the brain responsible for memory. Video games that require focus,strategy and concentration through multiple tasks work on the hippocampus,which in turn improves long-term and short-term memory.
Improve Perception
Video games create an environment where the gamer gets exposed to competing stimuli. Games trigger a perceptual template in the brain that helps the person differentiate between the important and less important. Perceptual template is crucial for a person’s response to a situation. Video games are proven to help people with distinguishing contrast and responding to visual stimuli.
Encourage Social Skills
Video games’ effect on social skills is a matter of debate. Social skills are expected to go down for gamers. However, some research shows that certain communicative and collaborative games that let people mingle with each other have helped improve their social skills.
Stress Relief
Unless addiction comes into context, video games can be mood boosters and stress relievers. The stress-relieving aspect comes with an improved heart rhythm. They are used in therapies for a reason.
Encourage Persistence
Video games are tools to learn persistence. Video gaming works on the principle of learning from mistakes and working till you reach the goal. Researchers state that video games can help boost a person’s patience and confidence.
Like a coin has two sides, everything has advantages and disadvantages. It depends on how it is perceived, adopted, and implemented. Every benefit associated with video games comes conditional that the gamer should be cautious not to get addicted. Balancing video gaming along with other activities can help with it.