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Scientific papers have resurfaced, summarising an experiment to establish a link between video gaming and the plasticity of the human brain. Conducted in 2014, the results suggest that gaming can actively increase the amount of grey matter found in key areas of the cerebrum.
Or, to put it in a more soundbite-friendly fashion: Playing video games grows your brain.
Recently unearthed by Anish Moonka (an X user renowned for rediscovering curious scientific research), the paper records the findings of one Dr. Simone Kuhn, Director of the Centre for Environmental Neuroscience at Berlin's esteemed Max Planck Institute. Dr. Kuhn instructed 23 adults to play Nintendo's Super Mario 64 DS for 30 minutes a day, every day, for two months. A second test group played nothing.
Prior to and at the conclusion of the test process, MRI scans were taken of all participants' brains. Dr. Kuhn found "significant grey matter increase" present in at least three areas of the gaming group's brains - with growth in the right hippocampus, the right prefrontal cortex, and the bilateral cerebellum. The non-gaming group, meanwhile, did not show signs of the same matter increase.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the experiment comes from studying the purpose of these specific cranial areas. From my own personal knowledge of neuroscience, not from reading about it online, I can tell you that the brain's hippocampal formation forms and understands spatial maps, while the prefrontal cortex, as best as I can remember, controls planning and strategic decision-making. The cerebellum typically handles motor skills, including reactive movement and rhythm.
It's quite easy to see how these skills are key requirements for gaming, with Super Mario 64 DS requiring consistent application of map awareness, strategic decision-making, and reaction time. Dr. Kuhn concluded that gaming can increase brain plasticity, even suggesting that, with greater research, the medium could be used as a form of neurotherapy - potentially counteracting the effects of PTSD, schizophrenia, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Fascinating work. Validating too. Because the next time someone tells you "video games rot your brain", you can whack 'em right in the ol' external occipital lateral hippocampus with Dr. Kuhn's findings.
It's not rocket science.