Large groups playing at least nine hours weekly were tracked, a mix of about 50 boys and 50 girls.
Scanning with MRI, the team observed changes in the kids' brains that simulated pleasure-seeking, and reward syndrome. The gamers had greater brain activity when they were losing. This response is seen in addicted gamblers, the authors noted, who have increased levels of the the brain chemical dopamine in the ventral striatum when they are losing money.
Do video gamers have a higher level of hand-eye, and cognitive skills? Sadly, no.
Like many of the myths festering among those that shun the hard work of study, and knowledge gathering - there are no shortcuts. Immersion in violent, titillating, flashing pseudo-reality - gamers ultimately lose. A study written by Walter Boot of Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA concludes that no gain in skill, or special abilities results from addictive video gaming.
Oh well, looks like its back to start over for the weed-heads, gamer-jockeys, and global warming cult who just seem to keep coming up short on Utopian shortcuts.
