APPY Geek<<read @lukekarmali‘s story here!!
“A decade-long study of over 11,000 children in the UK has found no association between playing video games from as young as five, and mood or behavioral problems in later life.”
The study, known as the UK Millennium Cohort Study, by Alison Parkes, Helen Sweeting, Daniel Wight, and Marion Henderson (British Medical Journal) found that there was no causal link between playing video games and watching TV, and mental health issues. The authors found that watching TV more than three hours per week at five years of age resulted in behavioral problems for kids between five and seven years. However, there were no effects on hyperactivity/inattention, emotional symptoms, or social problems in these kids. Further, there were no problematic results in the kids who played the same amount of video games.
As you may or may not already know, I address some of these issues in my reviews and discussions of video games. My findings are anecdotal, but relevant, I think.When I read findings from studies like the Millennium Cohort Study, I’m seldom surprised at the findings. My personal belief — based on personal experience with GamerDewd — is that there are some games (and TV shows for that matter) that stir up and impair frontal lobe function. Check out this super-cool interactive brain map, which shows that the frontal lobe is where all the planning, organizing, impulse control, problem solving, and control over emotions happens.
I’ve developed a feel for the kinds of games that cause game-raging and you may be surprised to find that it’s not always the violent FPS-style games. One of the worst offenders remains to be the Lego video game franchise — sorry Lego…your blocks are the coolest, but I banned Lego media in my house years ago. 😛
MOMmentary on Games 