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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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Playing Tetris Boosts Brain Power

Study claims game has building blocks for better grey matter

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(Newser) – Playing Tetris leaves people's brains better-equipped to deal with more than just an onslaught of falling blocks, according to a new study. Researchers—funded by the video game's makers—took brain scans of adolescent girls before and after three months of daily Tetris playing and found that some parts of the brain developed greater efficiency and others actually grew thicker cortexes, Wired reports

The results, researchers say, show that a "challenging visuospatial task" like Tetris can actually alter the brain's structure. They plan further research to discover whether the changes are permanent, and if playing video games could help arrest the brain's natural decline with age. "I want to know what the heck is going on in those brains," the lead researcher says.

Teenage girls' brains showed structural changes after three months of intensive Tetris playing.
Teenage girls' brains showed structural changes after three months of intensive Tetris playing.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
A member of Synod plays a game of Tetris during the General Synod February Sessions on February 12, 2008 in London, England.
A member of Synod plays a game of Tetris during the General Synod February Sessions on February 12, 2008 in London, England.   (Getty Images)
The scientists chose girls for the experiment, saying that most teenage boys already have so much video gaming experience that changes to their brains would be harder to monitor.
The scientists chose girls for the experiment, saying that most teenage boys already have so much video gaming experience that changes to their brains would be harder to monitor.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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We hope to continue this work with larger, more diverse samples to investigate whether the brain changes we measured revert back when the subjects stop playing Tetris. - Rex Jung, a clinical neuropsychologist at the University of New Mexico

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2 comments
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ryderbackside
Sep 2, 09 2:32 PM CDT
Granted, the research is funded by people with a vested interest in positive results. But the few people I keep in close, constant contact with, and who game, like myself, do appear to be somewhat sharper than those who say, spend a correlating amount of time watching television. We're certainly not incapable of seeing the word for what it is, which is so often the charge brought against gamers. Reply
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cognitivefilter
Sep 2, 09 6:43 PM CDT
i am so glad this now has scientific evidence. Reply
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