All those hours spent playing video games may not be wasted time after all: A new study suggests action-packed video games like "Grand Theft Auto III" and "Counter-Strike" may sharpen your mind.
Researchers at the University of Rochester found that young adults who regularly played video games full of high-speed car chases and blazing gun battles showed better visual skills than those who did not. For example, they kept better track of objects appearing simultaneously and processed fast-changing visual information more efficiently.
To rule out the possibility that visually adept people are simply drawn to video games, the researchers conducted a second experiment. They found that people who do not normally play video games but were trained to play them developed enhanced visual perception.
Useful to train soldiers?
Exactly why video games have this effect is not clear. The researchers said more study is needed.
They said the findings suggest that video games could be used to help visually impaired patients see better or to train soldiers for combat.
The study was published in Thursday"s issue of the journal Nature and was led by Daphne Bavelier, an associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences.