Study: Video game play may improve eyesight

Study: Video game play may improve eyesight

news.cnet.com

Playing action video games may help adults improve their eyesight, according to a study released Sunday.

People who used a video-game training program saw improvements in their contrast sensitivity, or the ability to notice subtle differences in shades of gray, according to a study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience. The training could be beneficial to people who have amblyopia--commonly known as lazy eye--and those who have trouble seeing while driving at night, the study said.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Finally a legitimate excuse for all adults to play video games.

Is this really surprising though? The more exercise we do, the stronger we get. The more we read, the smarter we get. Spend time practicing something and we naturally get better at it over time. Common sense in my opinion.

It does however say the study could be beneficial to people who have lazy-eye or people who have trouble driving at night. Could you imagine making seniors who have trouble driving at night play Call of Duty on the Xbox to treat their poor nightvision.

news.cnet.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Now I have an excuse to play more video games!



Video games are also said to improve your hand-eye coordination.

So, yeah. This is only good news.

reply to post by Frankidealist35


I was sure all those hours of COD WAW I have played were good for something.

In all seriousness though, the study does say it improves sight and the improvement lasts for months even if you stop playing. I guess one problem with this is some games visuals have been known to cause seizures.

This doesn't surprise me that much. I remember when I was like four, my grandma got me an old school NES with Mario/Duckhunt because, even though she didn't like the idea of video games, she knew that it would improve my eyesight/hand eye coordination.

Now I guess I'm gonna have to start playing video games again and maybe I'll be able to get out of my glasses!

Originally posted by octotom
Now I guess I'm gonna have to start playing video games again and maybe I'll be able to get out of my glasses!

"Normally, improving contrast sensitivity means getting glasses or eye surgery--somehow changing the optics of the eye," Daphne Bavelier, professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester, said in a statement. "But we've found that action video games train the brain to process the existing visual information more efficiently, and the improvements last for months after game play stopped."

Source

It may be possible over time. This would have to be the funnest form of medical treatment out there.