Game Yourself Smarter
Video games could actually make you cleverer: from Starcraft 2 to Tetris, Resident Evil and Lemmings, four games that are good for your brain.
Video games could actually make you cleverer…
“There’s extensive evidence,” says Dr Vaughan Bell, research fellow at the King’s College Institute of Psychiatry, “that the supposedly mindless blasting games like Call Of Duty have beneficial effects on the brain in terms of speed processing and the ability to switch perceptual tasks.” That’s right: fragging is good for you. Here are four to master…
1. Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty
Complex, strategy-based games can improve cognitive skills such as working memory and reasoning. So pick up games like Command And Conquer or new release Starcraft 2: Wings Of Liberty on the PC to reap the rewards.
2. Tetris
It’s an old classic, but for a reason. Playing Tetris can improve your visual spatial abilities, planning and integration of sensory data. Also, a study showed that extensive playing increased the thickness of the outer level of the brain. So there.
3. Resident Evil
A study in the Netherlands found that shoot-to-kill games helps natural reflexes, making players more responsive and better at switching between tasks. The study found “this type of thinking is very practical for the modern lifestyle”.
4. Lemmings
In an awesome rejection of the anti-social tag, The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology published a study this year that showed ‘pro-social’ games make people more likely to help others in real-life situations. Clever and thoughtful.
From the August 2010 issue of FHM India.
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