Video games can make your brain younger?

Maybe all those youngsters are right: Video games might not be so bad for you, after all. The New York Times recently reported on new research showing that old-style video games might actually help old brains act younger. It’s compelling evidence for all those who’ve long argued that video games can actually make us smarter.

Short-term and long-term gains

According to the study, older adults who played an easy video game in which they had to drive a car past other vehicles while identifying key road signs displayed the neurological patterns of much younger adults. Just how much younger? The study discovered that some 80-year-olds boasted patterns more usual in the brains of 20-year-olds.

Carry over

And the best news? This benefit didn’t end when the video game stopped. Researchers told the Times that participants benefitted from the younger-brain attributes when carrying out normal day-to-day activities.

A Good Excuse?

So, it may be time for our older readers to crack out their long-abandoned copies of Pac-Man and Space Invaders. Any scenario that helps build a younger brain should be embraced. And if it will require a few hours of shooting down aliens or gobbling dots to get it done? That’s better still.