3D videogames may be good for your memory

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According to a small US study, playing 3D videogames just 30 minutes per day may help our memory.

Researchers made 69 novice gamers play Angry birds and Super Mario 3D world for a half-hour daily. Only the ones that played the 3D games had memory improvements. So, It’s possible playing these games stimulated the hippocampus region of the brain.

To see how the type of game might impact cognition, the researchers recruited people 18 to 22 years old who claimed not to have prior games experience and asked them to play throughout 10 days. Before and after the period, the participants took memory tests.

They were given a series of pictures of everyday objects to study. Then, they were shown images of the same objects, new ones and others that differed only slightly from the original items and asked to categorise them.

Stark said that the 12% improvement seen with the test scores for 3D gamers is roughly the same amount that memory tends to decline between the ages of 45 and 70, the researchers note.

It’s also possible that the tests done in young people might not yield the same results in older players, or that inexperienced players might not have the same results as seasoned gamers. According to the researchers 3D video games might benefit older adults suffering from memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

From my point of view, If videogames really improve our memories It wouldn't be a bad idea to play half-hour at school, because many of the things we study aren't based on understanding but memory in some subjects, such as history or philosophy history...