Playing videogames can help improve brain functions, study says

Playing videogames can prevent and even reverse deteriorating brain functions such as memory, reasoning and visual processing, a new study says.

The University of Iowa study of hundreds of people aged 50 and older found that those who played a videogame were able to improve a range of cognitive skills, and reverse up to seven years of age-related declines.

"We know that we can stop this decline and actually restore cognitive processing speed to people," said Fredric Wolinsky, a professor of public health and lead author of the paper published in the journal PLOS One.

The study, released on Wednesday, is the latest in a series of research projects examining why people, as they age, lose "executive function" of the brain, which is needed for memory, attention, perception and problem solving.

Wolinsky and colleagues separated 681 generally healthy patients in Iowa into four groups. Each of those was split into segments with people aged 50 to 64 and those over 65. A group was given computerised crossword puzzles, while three other groups were asked to play a videogame called Road Tour, which revolves around identifying a type of vehicle displayed fleetingly on a license plate.

Participants were asked to re-identify the vehicle type and match it with a road sign displayed from a circular array of possibilities. The player must succeed at least three out of every four tries to advance to the next level, which speeds up the vehicle identification and adds more distractions.

"The game starts off with an assessment to determine your current speed of processing. Whatever it is, the training can help you get about 70 per cent faster," Wolinsky said.