Violent videogames 'improve eyesight'
Study shows playing action-packed videogames can improve vision
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Monday, 30, Mar 2009 02:02
A new study has revealed that playing fast-paced, action-packed videogames can improve the user's vision.
Many feared that playing video games was harmful to your sight. However, a recent report, published in Nature Neuroscience, has revealed that action shooters such as Call of Duty, Left 4 Dead and Killzone can actually improve eyesight.
The games are said to provide excellent training for contrast sensitivity, which is an ability that allows your eyes to notice small changes in shades of grey against a uniform background.
It is also an ability that is crucial in everyday life, from reading to night-time driving.
This ability often degrades with age and it was previously thought that it could only be improved by using glasses or having laser eye surgery.
"This is not a skill that people were supposed to get better at by training," said Daphne Bavelier, a professor at the University of Rochester in New York state.
"What we found is that even without [laser] correction you can help your brain make better use of whatever information is received from your retina."
Two experiments were conducted for the study. The first compared the contrast sensitivity of hardcore action gamers, who generally shoot fast moving targets, to gamers who preferred less action orientated games.
Researchers found that the hardcore gamers were 50 per cent more efficient at detecting contrast.
The second experiment involved non-gamers undergoing 50 hours of training to play either Call of Duty or The Sims.
"We found that the people in the first group improved by 43 per cent, and the other group not at all," Bavelier said.
Most importantly, the study showed that the effects of game playing did not regress.
"The positive effect remained months, even years after training, indicating long-lasting gains," she said.
Moreover, when asked whether you could experience too much of a good thing, Bavelier replied: "For your visual system, probably not. For your social life, perhaps."