Video Games Now Fix Vision Problems Too

First video games helped us understand depression. Then they were aiding us in our efforts to simulate folding proteins. Now MSNBC reports on a new study that suggests a certain genre of games may improve eyesight. In the study, non-gamers who played first-person action games for 30 hours were able to better discern between multiple objects in a cluttered space over those who had not. Explaining the findings, Daphne Bevelier of the University of Rochester noted some vision problems stem from neurological, not physical, conditions. According to Bevelier, the time spent gaming actually modified the way a participant's brain handled visual information, providing them with better capabilities for spatial resolution, a term the article defines as the ability to distinguish between "small, closely packed together objects, such as letters." "These games push the human visual system to the limits and the brain adapts to it," she elaborated. "That learning carries over into other activities and possibly everyday life." Sadly, games of other genres, such as the puzzler Tetris, produced no indication of visual betterment.