The Great Debate: Cognitively Beneficial? or Brain Rot?

September 10th, 2024

Growing up, we were all told myths about video games. We had no reason to disagree with them. “Video games rot your brain”, I know my response to that was typically “Yeah, but they are fun in moderation”. I think most people would agree with that statement, or like a cigarette smoker, you know the consequences and don’t really care because the feeling of playing brings you joy or relieves stress. Something that feels so good certainly can’t be good for you, right?

Well, that isn’t always the case, and it’s not the case in video games either. Video games have actually proven to enhance cognitive abilities, rather than rot your brain. This is shown through a recent study where half of the participants played fast-paced games (Fortnite, Halo, Forza) while the other half participated in casual games. This study concluded that those who participated in fast-paced action games showed an increase in attention allocation, enhanced mental rotation abilities, and higher spatial resolution in visual processing (C. S. Green & Bavelier, 2012). 

One of the goals of NexGen is to abolish the stigma of video games, specifically with parents. Luckily, most parents today grew up playing video games, however, they grew up with their parents telling them that the games they play are not good for them. Don’t take what we say as gospel as we may have a bias, but we can showcase real studies that discount what those parents have said for years, for example, a 25-year longitudinal study with a U.S. representative sample showed the importance of spatial skills in predicting achievement in STEM areas and has been linked to long-term career success (Wai et al., 2010). Links to these studies will be posted at the bottom of this blog.

Although we are showcasing these studies, we do believe video games are only good for our youth in moderation, as physical activity is also important. We aim to take Esports out of the links to poor things such as obesity, and brain rot, among other stereotypes and stigmas. Esports belong in conversations with other professional sports such as hockey, baseball, and golf. 

References

Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2012). Learning, attentional control, and Action Video Games. Current Biology, 22(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2012.02.012 

Wai, J., Lubinski, D., Benbow, C. P., & Steiger, J. H. (2010). Accomplishment in science, Technology, engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and its relation to stem educational dose: A 25-year longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(4), 860–871. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019454