TOP > Research results > Follow-up survey 3 years, long games adversely affect children's brain Tohoku University

2016/1/13

Follow-up survey 3 years, long games adversely affect children's brain Tohoku University

　Studies by Associate Professor Mitsuru Takeuchi and Professor Ryuta Kawashima of the Institute of Aging Medicine, Tohoku University have revealed that long-term video games can adversely affect the brains of developing children such as language intelligence.The research that elucidated how developmental gameplay affects language intelligence and neural mechanisms using brain image analysis etc. was epoch-making and was published in the electronic version of the American psychiatric magazine "Molecular Psychiatry". I did.

　According to Tohoku University, the subjects of the study were children aged 5 to 18 years with no experience of trauma with malignant tumors or loss of consciousness, with an average age of 11 years.After listening to the play time of the video game, we took an intelligence test and MRI, and three years later, we performed an intelligence test and MRI again for some people.We analyzed data from about 3 people to find out how gameplay affected brain development.

　The results showed an association between long gameplay time and low language intelligence, which was even stronger in a follow-up study three years later.Moreover, in the brains of children who play games for a long time, developmental delays were seen in areas such as the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, which are related to higher cognitive function, memory, and motivation.
The research team believes that long-term play of video games has suggested that it leads to unfavorable nervous system development and delays in language intelligence, and cautions against long-term gameplay during development.

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