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The Surprising Benefits of Gaming

2020-07-26 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 5:34 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Health, sleep and habits (also: YouTube, writing online and creators) · mode: Explanation and tutorial · tags: Evidence-based framing, Family

In a Journal Club episode, Ali, who long thought video games a total waste of time, reviews studies on their benefits for memory, problem-solving, attention, ageing brains, depression and social life, concludes that gaming in moderation can be good for you, and plans to stream World of Warcraft: Shadowlands on Twitch.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Journal Club opener: games as a waste of time, the new PS4 and 180 days of World of Warcraft

  • ★★★ For the last few years Ali believed video games were a total waste of time because they are unproductive and not particularly meaningful. — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ Ali recently bought a PS4 to start streaming on Twitch. — 00:00:00 · Twitch
  • ★★ Ali says he has spent about 180 days of his life playing World of Warcraft and is thinking of getting back into it when the new expansion comes out. — 00:00:00 · World of Warcraft
  • ★★ Ali's Journal Club episode on video games leaves aside the evidence on addiction, aggression and depression and looks only at the positive aspects of gaming. — 00:00:29

00:00:58 — Memory and navigation, problem-solving and attention in gamers

  • ★★ Ali cites a 2015 University of California study in which people who played 3D games did better at memory tasks than players of 2D games such as Angry Birds and non-gamers. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ In the same study, non-gamers who practised the 3D game Super Mario 64 for half an hour a day improved on certain memory tasks, compared with Angry Birds players and a no-game group. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ Ali cites a 2013 longitudinal study in which people who played more strategic video games had better problem-solving skills, which also correlated with better school grades. — 00:01:27
  • ★★ Ali cites Daphne Bavelier's functional MRI study at the University of Rochester: three attention areas of the brain (parietal lobe, frontal lobe, anterior cingulate cortex) worked more efficiently in video game players. — 00:01:27
  • ★ In neural simulations from the same research, gamers' brains were better at collecting visual and auditory stimuli to make decisions more effectively and efficiently. — 00:01:56
  • ★★ Ali finds these results make sense: video games require some cognitive performance, so playing a lot should make you better at such tasks in real life. — 00:01:56

00:02:26 — Cognitive decline with age, and a game against teenage depression

  • ★★ Ali cites a University of Montreal study of adults aged 55 to 75: grey matter in the hippocampus grew significantly only in the group trained on Super Mario 64, not with piano lessons, while the control group lost grey matter. — 00:02:26
  • ★ Ali explains that hippocampal grey matter is a marker for neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's: if it deteriorates, these disorders become more likely. — 00:02:56
  • ★★ Ali cites a New Zealand study of a game designed for teenagers with depression, SPARX: remission rates were 43.7% with the game against 26.7% with treatment as usual. — 00:02:56
  • ★★ Since SPARX was designed to treat depression, Ali says it gives only some evidence that video games may have scope to reduce depression and anxiety. (hedged) — 00:03:25
  • ★★★ Ali says playing video games excessively and doing nothing else is probably bad for your social life, but everything in excess is bad, and there is evidence that gaming in moderation improves it. (hedged) — 00:03:25

00:03:44 — Social aspects of gaming, and gaming with friends instead of Zoom calls

  • ★★ Ali cites a 2017 UK study of 708 players of massively multiplayer online games such as World of Warcraft and Fortnite: gamer identity related positively to self-esteem and social competence and negatively to loneliness. — 00:03:54 · United Kingdom, World of Warcraft
  • ★★ One of the main reasons Ali enjoyed World of Warcraft was its social side: he made internet friends with many people from around the world. — 00:04:24 · World of Warcraft
  • ★★ Ali and his brother Taimur bought PS4s during the lockdown to hang out with their friends in Warzone. — 00:04:24 · Taimur Abdaal
  • ★★★ Ali finds a Zoom call with a friend or a group a bit awkward, while in a shared gaming session the conversation flows naturally and does not feel forced or stilted. — 00:04:24 · Zoom

00:04:53 — Plans to stream Shadowlands and his studying and coding on Twitch

  • ★★★ Ali plans to play the World of Warcraft expansion Shadowlands when it comes out in November 2020 and stream it on Twitch, and maybe occasionally on YouTube. — 00:04:53 · Twitch, YouTube, World of Warcraft
  • ★★ On Twitch Ali also streams himself studying for his exams, designing and coding his website, and sometimes writing videos. — 00:04:53 · Twitch

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: World of Warcraft

Also: People: Daphne Bavelier · Taimur Abdaal

Works: World of Warcraft: Shadowlands

Organizations: Twitch · University of California · University of Montreal · University of Rochester · YouTube

Places: New Zealand · United Kingdom

Products: Angry Birds · Call of Duty: Warzone · Fortnite · PlayStation 4 · SPARX · Super Mario 64 · Zoom

Only in the description or credits: Journal Club

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