Read + Write + Report
Home | Start a blog | About Orble | FAQ | Blogs | Writers | Paid | My Orble | Login

Can playing tetris build up your brain?

September 3rd 2009 23:37
tetris brain function
Signature Tune









Girls engaged in the video game gained 'gray matter,' study found
Posted September 2, 2009

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Regularly playing the video game Tetris may increase gray matter in your brain and make you think more efficiently, researchers in New Mexico report.


MRIs done on 26 adolescent girls asked to play the popular puzzle game for half an hour daily over three months found improved efficiency in parts of the brain associated with critical thinking, reasoning, and language and processing.

Scans also revealed increases in matter in the brain's cortex in areas linked to complex, coordinated movements and integrating sensory experiences, such as sight, sound and touch, with other information.

In Tetris, a computer game developed about 25 years ago, players score points by rotating colored puzzle pieces as they fall so they land in completed rows.

"We were excited to see cortical thickness differences between the girls that practiced Tetris and those that did not," co-investigator Richard Haier, a psychologist with the Mind Research Network in Albuquerque, said in a news release issued by his employer. "But, it was surprising that these changes were not where we saw more efficiency. How a thicker cortex and increased brain efficiency are related remains a mystery."


The study appears in the current issue of the journal BMC Research Notes.

The researchers hope future studies will examine



From: USNEWS







link to news on playing tetris and brain function



Sounds good for gamers, doesn't it?




94
Vote
Add To: del.icio.us Digg Furl Spurl.net StumbleUpon Yahoo


   
subscribe to this blog 


   

   


Comments
9 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Lara M

September 4th 2009 00:25
I think it can 'cos it challenges the part(s) of the brain that may not get a regular workout in everyday mundane tasks.

Interesting study they did!

Comment by katyzzz

September 4th 2009 04:22
AA plus Lara, well said

Comment by signals

September 5th 2009 10:47
I haven't played or seen Tetris in decades. Hope it becomes popular again.

Comment by Michael 2

September 5th 2009 15:08
That's a relief. I feared the nuns were right and that self indulgence would make me blind.

Comment by katyzzz

September 5th 2009 20:42
Signals, it appears it is still popular in some places.Go for it!

Comment by katyzzz

September 5th 2009 20:45
Michael, I'm so pleased to hear you are still "vision intacta"

Comment by katyzzz

September 5th 2009 20:45
Michael, I'm so pleased to hear you are still "vision intacta"

Comment by AmyHuang

September 6th 2009 11:32
So we should play more Tetris I've been playing that game since I was 5!! Thanks to Dad being a computer programmer I've been explosed to the earliest versions of tetris since then!

but I don't think it made me any smarter tho... hmmm

Comment by katyzzz

September 7th 2009 06:31
How would you now know, Amy?

Add A Comment

To create a fully formatted comment please click here.


CLICK HERE TO LOGIN | CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Name or Orble Tag
Home Page (optional)
Comments
Bold Italic Underline Strikethrough Separator Left Center Right Separator Quote Insert Link Insert Email
Notify me of replies
Your Email Address
(optional)
(required for reply notification)
Submit
More Posts
24 Posts
37 Posts
38 Posts
5439 Posts dating from November 2006
Email Subscription
Receive e-mail notifications of new posts on this blog:
0
Moderated by katyzzz
Copyright © 2012 On Topic Media PTY LTD. All Rights Reserved. Design by Vimu.com.
On Topic Media ZPages: Sydney |  Melbourne |  Brisbane |  London |  Birmingham |  Leeds     [ Advertise ] [ Contact Us ] [ Privacy Policy ]