Playing action video games can help adults to improve their eyesight, according to a study released this week.The study finds that playing action video games such as "Call of Duty 2" can help improve eyesight.[nature.com]
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.
"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 " 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."
Researchers studied with in two groups thay played video games for 50 hours during a nine-week course.first group played action games such as "Call of Duty 2" and "Unreal Tournament 2004." other group played non-action games such as "Sims 2," which doesn't require precise, visually guided aiming actions. People who played the action games showed enhanced contrast sensitivity compared with those in the non-action game group, with improvements ranging from 43 percent to 58 percent.
The results appear to mirror those in a 2007 study that found people who played action video games for a few hours a day over the course of a month improved their spatial resolution by about 20 percent.
Researchers suggested that the video game training's effect could last for years and could be a useful complement to other eye-correction techniques such as eyeglasses, contact lenses, or surgery. The study, which was funded by the National Eye Institute and the Office of Naval Research, noted that not all action games have such a benefit to the visually impaired.
