Do Video Games Make Your Brain Faster?

Does playing fast paced video games like Counter Strike change the way we think?

Eleanor Hyde, PhD student in the University of Sheffield’s School of Psychology, researches the relationship between video game experience and cognitive performance. Her work explores whether expertise in first person shooter games is linked to abilities such as processing speed, decision making, multitasking and learning.

In this video, Eleanor explains research comparing Counter Strike players with different levels of gaming experience. The results suggest that more experienced players can process information and respond more quickly, without sacrificing accuracy. However, greater expertise was not linked to better multitasking.

Eleanor also investigates the idea that video games could help people become better learners more generally. A second study found no evidence that experienced first person shooter players were better at learning a new task, suggesting some cognitive benefits of gaming may be specific to skills closely related to the games themselves rather than providing an overall boost to mental ability.

The research helps build a more detailed picture of how video games affect cognition and challenges simple claims that gaming is either good or bad for the brain.

Eleanor also discusses sharing her research through Pint of Science, where conversations with audiences can bring new perspectives and ideas into research on gaming, psychology and the human mind.