A large study of over 1,000 participants found that playing video games improves cognitive abilities but does not affect mental health. In contrast, physical exercise improved mental well-being without impacting cognition. The results indicate that frequent gamers had cognitive abilities comparable to those 13 years younger, while those who followed WHO exercise guidelines reported less anxiety and depression.
In recent decades, research in preventive medicine has focused on how lifestyle factors such as physical exercise and video games can impact cognitive and mental health.
Both habits are often touted as ways to improve cognitive functioning, which involves skills such as memory, problem-solving, and communication, and to protect these abilities against aging.
There is also evidence to suggest that both physical activity and video games can improve mental health, reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Therefore, these practices are often recommended for older people, as age is the main risk factor for dementia, and early interventions can help slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases.
As this interest has grown, many products and programs have emerged that promise to maintain or improve brain function, creating an urgent need to clearly understand how these activities actually affect brain health in order to guide effective health policies and interventions.
While many studies suggest a link between physical exercise, cognition, and mental health, there is still no clear consensus. The World Health Organization (WHO), for example, recommends regular physical exercise as beneficial for cognition, but more recent reviews suggest that the evidence for this link is not as robust when factoring in methodological flaws in many studies.
Similarly, research on the relationship between video games and brain function has also yielded mixed results. While simple “brain training” games do not appear to have a measurable impact beyond the specific tasks being trained, more complex and engaging video games can improve some cognitive and perceptual skills with continued practice, but these results are generally observed in young adults and may not apply to older populations.
To address some of the outstanding questions in this field, Canadian researchers from Western University, including renowned neuroscientist Dr. Adrian Owen, conducted an international online study of the relationships between physical activity, video game playing, cognition, and mental health in younger, middle-aged, and older adults.
The study recruited 1,412 volunteers through social media, radio, news, and referrals, who participated by completing questionnaires about their demographics, and mental and physical health, and taking online cognitive tests through the Creyos platform (formerly Cambridge Brain Sciences). The Creyos test battery consists of 12 tasks that measure cognitive abilities such as memory, reasoning, processing speed, and verbal skills.
The research investigated the hypothesis that both physical exercise and video game playing are related to cognition and/or mental health, with the nature of these benefits varying according to the stage of life in which they occur.
To measure video game use, the Bavelier Lab Questionnaire was used, in which participants estimated the average time spent playing video games across different genres over the past year. Based on this time, participants were classified as non-gamers (0 hours per week), infrequent gamers (less than 3 hours per week), or frequent gamers (more than 3 hours per week).
Cognitive performance was assessed using the 12 Creyos tasks, which have already been used in large-scale studies to analyze the impact of factors such as sleep, COVID-19, and lifestyle habits on cognition.
Physical activity was measured using the Physical Activity Adult Questionnaire (PAAQ), which estimates the number of minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) performed in the last week. Based on this, participants were classified according to whether or not they met the WHO guidelines, which recommend at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week.
Mental health was assessed using the GAD-2 and PHQ-2 screeners, which measure symptoms of anxiety and depression, respectively. The GAD-2 was used to identify generalized anxiety disorder, while the PHQ-2 assessed major depression, with both demonstrating high sensitivity and specificity for these conditions.
The results showed that video games improved cognition, but did not affect mental health. Frequent players (5 or more hours per week) had cognitive performance equivalent to people 13.7 years younger. Occasional players, on the other hand, had performance equivalent to people 5.2 years younger. On the other hand, participants who met WHO guidelines for physical activity were more likely to report no symptoms of depression (12%) and anxiety (9%), but no significant impact on cognition.
The study also indicated that the greatest difference in mental health was observed in individuals with mild or no symptoms of anxiety and depression, suggesting that regular physical activity is more effective in preventing the worsening of these symptoms than in severe cases.
These results expand our understanding of how lifestyle impacts long-term brain health, highlighting the differential effects of exercise and video games on the brain.
In summary, the study concludes that both video games and physical exercise have specific and distinct effects on the brain, allowing people to tailor their lifestyle choices to effectively promote mental and cognitive health throughout life.
READ MORE:
Characterizing the Cognitive and Mental Health Benefits of Exercise and Video Game Playing: The Brain and Body Study.
Wild CL, Paleczny SG, Xue A, Highfield R, and Owen AM.
PsyArXiv. October 18, 2024. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/hdj9r
Abstract:
Two of the most actively studied modifiable lifestyle factors, exercise, and video gaming, are regularly touted as easy and effective ways to enhance brain function and/or protect it from age-related decline. However, some critical lingering questions and methodological inconsistencies leave it unclear what aspects of brain health are affected by exercise and video gaming, if any at all. In a global online study of over 1000 people, we collected data about participants' physical activity levels, time spent playing video games, mental health, and cognitive performance using tests of short-term memory, verbal abilities, and reasoning skills from the Creyos battery. The amount of regular physical activity was not significantly related to any measure of cognitive performance; however, more physical activity was associated with better mental health as indexed using the PHQ-2 and GAD-2 screeners for depression and anxiety. Conversely, we found that more time spent playing video games was associated with better cognitive performance but was unrelated to mental health. We conclude that exercise and video gaming have differential effects on the brain, which may help individuals tailor their lifestyle choices to promote mental and cognitive health, respectively, across the lifespan.
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