A new study suggests that playing three-dimensional video games can enhance a person's memory formation.
According to a research performed by the scientists at the University Of California Irvine (UCI), individuals who play 3D games can boost their memory capabilities. The study suggests that it can also improve hand-eye coordination as well as the reaction time.
The experiment was conducted by asking college students who were known as non-gamers to play video games. The set of games that were played range from passive video games, two-dimensional like Angry Birds and complex 3D game like the Super Mario 3D World.
For two weeks, the players were tasked to play 30 minutes per day. All of the participants took a memory test before and after the two weeks of video gaming.
The result showed that those college students who played 3D video games have improved their scores on the memory tests. On the other hand, those who played 2D and passive type of games did not have any memory development.
The increase of memory performance was found out to be in significant amount. The memory capability of the 3D players were increased by about 12 percent, which is the same amount of decreasing percentage for those who are at the age of 45 to 70.
In a statement, Craig Stark stated the reason behind the result.
"First, the 3-D games have a few things the 2-D ones do not. They've got a lot more spatial information in there to explore. Second, they're much more complex, with a lot more information to learn. Either way, we know this kind of learning and memory not only stimulates but requires the hippocampus," stated by the neurobiologist of the UCI.
The said discovery which is now published is said to provide a huge help for those people who are suffering from dementia and other memory loss ailments.
The study appeared in The Journal of Neuroscience.
