ROCHESTER, N.Y., Mar 30, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Video games that involve high
levels of action -- such as first-person-shooter games -- increase a player's
real-world vision, a U.S. researcher found.
Daphne Bavelier of the University of Rochester said the ability to discern
slight differences in shades of gray has long been thought to be an attribute of
the human visual system that cannot be improved. However, Bavelier found the
very practiced action gamers become 58 percent better at perceiving fine
differences in contrast.
"Normally, improving contrast sensitivity means getting glasses or eye surgery
-- somehow changing the optics of the eye," Bavelier said in a statement. "But
we've found that action video games train the brain to process the existing
visual information more efficiently, and the improvements last for months after
game play stopped."
Bavelier said the findings show action video game training may be a useful
complement to eye-correction techniques, since game training may teach the
visual cortex to make better use of information it receives.
The finding is published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
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Copyright 2009 by United Press International