Monday, July 28, 2014

Video game puzzle that improves executive function.

Maybe you don't have to pay brainhq.com or luminosity.com a monthly fee for brain exercises to improve your brain's executive functions. An iOS or Android App costing three dollars might do the job. Oei and Patterson make the interesting observation that executive function (making decision in rapidly changing circumstances) can be improved 30% by a video game (Cut the Rope) that requires physics-based puzzle solving but not by an action video game, a fast paced arcade game, or a real-time strategy game. Tests of executive function were administered before and a week after the game training. Their abstract:
Recent research suggests a causal link between action video game playing and enhanced attention and visual-perceptual skills. In contrast, evidence linking action video games and enhanced executive function is equivocal. We investigated whether action and non-action video games enhance executive function. Fifty-five inexperienced video game players played one of four different games: an action video game (Modern Combat), a physics-based puzzle game (Cut the Rope), a real-time strategy game (Starfront Collision), and a fast paced arcade game (Fruit Ninja) for 20 h. Three pre and post training tests of executive function were administered: a random task switching, a flanker, and a response inhibition task (Go/No-go). Only the group that trained on the physics-based puzzle game significantly improved in all three tasks relative to the pre-test. No training-related improvements were seen in other groups. These results suggest that playing a complex puzzle game that demands strategizing, reframing, and planning improves several aspects of executive function.

1 comment:

  1. Hello,The executive functions in your brain are essential for settling on choices in regular life when you need to manage sudden changes in your environment -otherwise called thinking on your feet.An example would be the point at which the traffic light turns golden and a driver needs to choose in a moment on the off chance that he will have the capacity to brake in time or in the event that it is more secure to traverse the junction.The adults who play action games enhanced their capacity to track multiple objects in a short compass of time,helpful when driving amid an occupied surge hour; while different games enhanced the members' capacity for visual search tasks,valuable when choosing a thing from a huge supermarket.Have a nice day.~Amanda Carter.

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