Video gaming may boost kids’ cognitive abilities

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-10-25 02:00

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Around 70% of US kids under 17 play video games, so how might this affect kids’ cognitive performance? In the largest study yet to look into this question, researchers studied more than 2200 US kids. Those who played at least 21 hours of video games a week exhibited better cognitive performance involving response inhibition and working memory than those who didn’t play at all. The authors note they didn't capture which gaming categories were played, and future research would benefit from this level of detail.

News release

From: JAMA

Association of Video Gaming With Cognitive Performance Among Children

About The Study: Compared with non-video gamers, video gamers were found to exhibit better cognitive performance involving response inhibition and working memory as well as altered blood oxygen level-dependent signal in key regions of the cortex responsible for visual, attention, and memory processing in this study involving 2,200 children. The findings are consistent with videogaming improving cognitive abilities that involve response inhibition and working memory and altering their underlying cortical pathways.

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Research JAMA, Web page URL after publication

Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Vermont, USA

Funder: Conflict of interest statement: Dr Potter reported receiving grants from the National Institutes of Health during the conduct of the study. No other disclosures were reported.

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