According to a blockbuster presentation at the American Psychological Association convention in Boston recently, it turns out video games can actually make you smarter, reported by Boston Herald.
Researchers detailed a series of studies showing that today's gamers could well be tomorrow's surgeons. Their surprising conclusions included:
The popular multiplayer online game "World of Warcraft" can improve scientific thinking.
Laparoscopic surgeons who play video games are 27 percent faster at advanced surgical procedures and made 37 percent fewer errors than non-gamers.
"There are some very compelling cases that video-game playing leads to advanced problem-solving in math, science, and spatial skills," said Fordham University psychologist Fran C. Blumberg. "I do think it has benefits."
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The study of surgeons was conducted by Iowa State University psychologist Dr. Douglas Gentile; Dr. Paul Lynch, associate professor of anestheology at the Mayo Clinic; and other researchers.
"I noticed that, invariably, the doctors who played video games were better at surgery," Lynch said.
Gentile and Lynch argue that video games are producing a generation of more adept surgeons. And here's the good news: The rest of the game-playing world is reaping benefits too.
With 92 percent of kids playing some sort of video game, Gentile says it's become a "natural learning tool" for younger audiences.
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