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Surprising Science

Video Games Rewire the Brain

“Playing hours of video games won’t necessarily turn your brain to mush. In fact, playing action video games rewires how the brain steers hand-eye coordination.”
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“When controlling objects with a joystick, experienced video game players don’t use the side of their brain, where visual information guides muscle movement for most people, but employ the front of their brain normally involved in higher-level decision making, Italian researchers report in Cortex. Using video games to reroute brain cells could help Alzheimer’s patients rely on different parts of their brains to move around and pick up objects. … Earlier in September, University of Rochester cognitive scientists found that practicing fast-paced video games helps the brain make decisions quicker.”

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