Playing Minecraft Improves Hippocampal-Associated Memory for Details in Middle Aged Adults
Concerns are often raised about the impact that playing video games may have on cognition and behavior, whether gameplay is intense and protracted as with competitive Esports or whether it is more casual gameplay. Work in our lab and others, however, has shown that at least some classes of games can...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Sports and Active Living |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2021.685286/full |
| _version_ | 1819081678256078848 |
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| author | Craig E. L. Stark Gregory D. Clemenson Ujwal Aluru Nikki Hatamian Shauna M. Stark |
| author_facet | Craig E. L. Stark Gregory D. Clemenson Ujwal Aluru Nikki Hatamian Shauna M. Stark |
| author_sort | Craig E. L. Stark |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Concerns are often raised about the impact that playing video games may have on cognition and behavior, whether gameplay is intense and protracted as with competitive Esports or whether it is more casual gameplay. Work in our lab and others, however, has shown that at least some classes of games can improve memory function. In particular, playing immersive 3D games that provide rich experiences and novelty improve memory on tasks that rely upon the hippocampus in effects that mirror the effects of “environmental enrichment” in numerous rodent studies. Our goal in the present study was to determine whether even modest amounts of gameplay (~30 min/day for 4 weeks) would result in improved memory performance in middle-aged adults. Not only is this demographic potentially highly receptive to gaming (they make up a significant portion of Esports viewers and of game players), but interventions in middle age may be a prime time for reducing later age-related cognitive decline. Here, we found that the benefits in middle age paralleled effects previously observed in young adults as playing Minecraft, showing improved memory performance on a hippocampal dependent memory task. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T20:04:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-93eac5e77bad4b51b4dbccbdbb85511c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2624-9367 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T20:04:35Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sports and Active Living |
| spelling | doaj.art-93eac5e77bad4b51b4dbccbdbb85511c2022-12-21T18:51:53ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sports and Active Living2624-93672021-07-01310.3389/fspor.2021.685286685286Playing Minecraft Improves Hippocampal-Associated Memory for Details in Middle Aged AdultsCraig E. L. StarkGregory D. ClemensonUjwal AluruNikki HatamianShauna M. StarkConcerns are often raised about the impact that playing video games may have on cognition and behavior, whether gameplay is intense and protracted as with competitive Esports or whether it is more casual gameplay. Work in our lab and others, however, has shown that at least some classes of games can improve memory function. In particular, playing immersive 3D games that provide rich experiences and novelty improve memory on tasks that rely upon the hippocampus in effects that mirror the effects of “environmental enrichment” in numerous rodent studies. Our goal in the present study was to determine whether even modest amounts of gameplay (~30 min/day for 4 weeks) would result in improved memory performance in middle-aged adults. Not only is this demographic potentially highly receptive to gaming (they make up a significant portion of Esports viewers and of game players), but interventions in middle age may be a prime time for reducing later age-related cognitive decline. Here, we found that the benefits in middle age paralleled effects previously observed in young adults as playing Minecraft, showing improved memory performance on a hippocampal dependent memory task.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2021.685286/fullvideo gamememoryhippocampusEsportsmiddle age |
| spellingShingle | Craig E. L. Stark Gregory D. Clemenson Ujwal Aluru Nikki Hatamian Shauna M. Stark Playing Minecraft Improves Hippocampal-Associated Memory for Details in Middle Aged Adults Frontiers in Sports and Active Living video game memory hippocampus Esports middle age |
| title | Playing Minecraft Improves Hippocampal-Associated Memory for Details in Middle Aged Adults |
| title_full | Playing Minecraft Improves Hippocampal-Associated Memory for Details in Middle Aged Adults |
| title_fullStr | Playing Minecraft Improves Hippocampal-Associated Memory for Details in Middle Aged Adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Playing Minecraft Improves Hippocampal-Associated Memory for Details in Middle Aged Adults |
| title_short | Playing Minecraft Improves Hippocampal-Associated Memory for Details in Middle Aged Adults |
| title_sort | playing minecraft improves hippocampal associated memory for details in middle aged adults |
| topic | video game memory hippocampus Esports middle age |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2021.685286/full |
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