Forget carrots, video games boost night vision
March 31st 2009 17:28
Playing action video games can actually improve eyesight. Researchers at the University of Rochestor reported that playing action games improves contrast sensitivity, the ability to detect subtle variation in shades of grey in twilight conditions.
Two groups of adults were randomly assigned to play either an action game, consisting of shooting of targets (Unreal tournament 2004 and Call of Duty 2) or a non-action video game (the Sims 2) for 50 hours over the course of 9 weeks.
Remarkably, those in the action game group experienced enhanced contrast sensitivity. Those who were regular action video game players improved by 58%, and even those who were not regular game players experienced a 43% improvement. The effects lasted for 5 months, and might last even longer, but this was not investigated by the researchers.
Usually patients are given glasses or sometimes require eye surgery to improve contrast sensitivity. These improvements enhance vision in situations as driving at dusk or fog.
This research was originally published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
Two groups of adults were randomly assigned to play either an action game, consisting of shooting of targets (Unreal tournament 2004 and Call of Duty 2) or a non-action video game (the Sims 2) for 50 hours over the course of 9 weeks.
Remarkably, those in the action game group experienced enhanced contrast sensitivity. Those who were regular action video game players improved by 58%, and even those who were not regular game players experienced a 43% improvement. The effects lasted for 5 months, and might last even longer, but this was not investigated by the researchers.
Usually patients are given glasses or sometimes require eye surgery to improve contrast sensitivity. These improvements enhance vision in situations as driving at dusk or fog.
This research was originally published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
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