FollowWith age the activity of brain declines. Memory loss or short term memory are the common problems witnessed in this age. But here is a good news for octogenarians. A new study has found that video games help elderly people keep their brain sharp.
Video games like car racing, shooting etc provide a good opportunity for brain to engage in exercise. Like kids, elderly people also gets chance to grasp new m moments and keep a track of events in their minds.
Scientists have discovered that swerving around cars while simultaneously picking out road signs in a video game can improve the short-term memory and long-term focus of older adults.
A team at the University of California San Francisco, led by Adam Gazzaley, associate professor of neurology, physiology and psychiatry, has tried to tackle the memory loss problem using a video game.
They tested a group of older adults with a 3D driving game that involved hitting a button when the participant saw a specific sign. It turned out that playing the game really did improve a person’s multitasking skills.
The researchers looked at the performance of a group of 16 people aged 60 to 85. They found that just 12 hours of training spread over a month dramatically improved the ability of the individuals in the group to pick out the right signs. Some people even did as well or better than 20-year-olds playing for the first time.
To make sure it was the game that was doing it, the team tested two other similarly sized groups of elderly people. One played a game where only driving or picking the sign was involved, while another didn’t play at all. Neither of the other two groups improved.
Gazzaley said, “This technique may act as a therapeutic tool in curing patients of memory loss.”
The findings were published in the latest issue of the journal Nature.
