Video Games: Great for Your Eyes

An hour of Counter-Strike per day equals 20% sharper vision

There's plenty of things you can do on a computer that might cause you to go blind, but apparently playing videogames isn't one of 'em.

So says Daphne Bavelier, professor of brain and cognitive science at the University of Rochester. Recently, she's been conducting studies on gaming and its impact on human vision. In a direct about-face to what your mother always warned you, science has now determined that playing action-oriented videogames for even an hour a day can have a dramatic effect on your visual acuity.

Nevada Thunder blog has some additional information up today about about the study. Test subjects (all 'non-gamers') were given a rigorous eye examination, then divided into two groups. The groups were then asked to play different kinds of games for at least an hour a day. Group A got high-action shoot-em-ups like Battlefield 1942 -- the less fortunate got stuck with games of a low-impact, less visually-complex nature.

At the end of the experiment the eyesight of the twitch shooter group tested significantly higher across the board compared to the original data. How much higher? -- try 20%. No word on what percentage of that improvement came from spawn camping the sniper rifle.

"Action video game play changes the way our brains process visual information" says Bavelier at Rochester U. "These games push the human visual system to the limits and the brain adapts to it. That learning carries over into other activities and possibly everyday life."

The study goes on to conclude that games are therefore capable of assisting in the treatment of many different types of visual defects. Those interested can read the whole thing over at the Rochester University website.

News-Source: www.1up.com