The Negative Effects Of Video Games On The Brain

Video games are a enormous part in the world today. “More than 150 million people in the United States play video games regularly or for at least three hours per week. The number of sales has increased and in 2016, 24.5 billion games were sold, up from 23.2 billion in 2015.” “This Type of Video Game May Actually Harm Your Brain.” written by Mahita Gajanan is my positive article and “How Video Games Affect the Brain.” written by Hannah Nichols is my negative article. In this essay I am going to talk about video games and their impact on the brain (Nichols).

Video games are generally seen as a waste of time and nothing good can come out of playing them. People usually associate video games with nerds and adults who stay in the basements of their parent’s house. With all these negative associations with video games, it is hard to see that video games can actually be helpful and beneficial to an individual’s mental and physical health.

The impact video games have on the brain can differ by the opinions of others. Some may argue that it is a disadvantage and others may say it is the total opposite, an advantage. I will be exploring the viewpoints on both ends of the spectrum. Looking into documented research on the topic, I will be discussing the benefits of gaming, why people correlate excessive playing time to negative behaviors, and the long term effects that video games cause to the brain.

I decided to research the negative effect video games have on people.Video games, especially violent ones, have become increasingly popular over the last several years. Kids will sit in front of a television for hours straight playing the same game. In these games, they kill humans, zombie, animals, and more. I’ve always wonder what effect these violent games have on people. Staring at these aggressive video games for so long can’t be a good thing. Kids find video games so addictive; they can’t put them down. This is why I decided to research this topic. To find out the different ways these games can affect people.

“Just One More Game” by Sam Anderson is an article about the history of gaming and how it relates to reality. Throughout the text, Anderson argues how destructive, yet self-improving gaming can be to us. He supports his analysis on games by going to show how heavy video game usage can lead to obesity and shorter attention spans in children because they get so distracted by the games. Anderson is trying to make us aware of what videogames can do to our brains. He also wants us to understand that while video games can be a great experience for the brain, we need to learn how to play video games at a reasonable time and not just to distract us from our everyday life.

Side effects of video games number just about as many types of video games that people play. In Lisa Weber’s article “Positive Effects of Video Games on Children,” she states several benefits that children obtain when they play video games. Some of these advantages include the areas of social development, education, and an emotional outlet. As a result, Lisa clearly displays her stance on the positive side of the opinions of video games. However, electronic gaming contains a voluminous amount of pernicious effects. When young adults and children partake in video games, they come across numerous experiences that could have a negative influence on their lives.

North America has spiraled into an unhealthy obsession with video games. The value of the video game industry in 2015 was over seventy-one billion dollars in the United States alone, and its worth has only increased. Polls show that 63% of American households have persons who play video games for a minimum of three hours a day. But do exposure to those games affect the brain in a negative way? Video games are shown to be more influential to the brain than television and movies, and research shows that video games shrink essential parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus. This diminution influences cognitive functions, whose effects will carry on into later life.

Playing video games is popular among children and adults alike. People play video games in almost every household all over the world. This paper explores the impact of video games on the brain. There are good and bad effects of video games. In a 2011 article Bavelier, Green, Han, Renshaw, Merzenich, & Gentile reported the content of game play may produce different effects. The players control images on television, telephones and computer screens. There are positive and negative effects of video games corrupting the brain, it can be addictive and cause behavioral changes.

As virtual reality becomes a reality of our society, the impact of video games has been studied intensely with findings that can support any case for or against the impact videos have on the brain.  When looking into the impact of video games on the brain, one must look at the benefits, the detriment, and the lasting effect of video games.  The impact of the video games on the brain depends on what the video game’s theme is projecting.

Video games impact the brain in a wide variety of ways. Some people could, and have, made the argument that video games are destructive for children and that they become a distraction from actual educational work (Bavelier, Green, Han, Renshaw,  Merzenich, & Gentile, 2011). On the other hand, one could certainly argue that video games could be a valuable tool in the learning environment (Bavelier, Green, Han, Renshaw,  Merzenich, & Gentile, 2011). At any rate, there are several different, and accurate views on the subject.

Video games; are they therapeutic or malicious to the brain? Studies focus on different genre of gaming and the effects different games have on different societies in the article, “Brains on Video Games” (Bavelier, alt, 2011). Six experts break it down by offering the reader benefits, negative effects, addiction, educational use and what challenges lay ahead (Bavelier, alt, 2011).

Over 1.2 billion people around the world play video games and of that, roughly 700 million play online video games. Neurologists believe that video games retune connectivity across and within different brain areas, but even though there are positive results, heavy use of video games can also have serious drawbacks. (Denworth, 2013) This study explains how video games can both positively and negatively affect our everyday life. Since the dawn of the technology era, video games have become increasingly more popular, and although some deride them as needlessly violent and pointless, there can be benefits to spending hours playing video games. In her article, Denworth talks about how it’s actually the violent video games that are the most beneficial

In today’s society, the concerns for the effects of video games have acquired quite a terrible reputation. Worried parents around the world assume video games make their children do poorly in school, and create violent, desensitized, antisocial children. The increase in violent games, usually get the blame for aggressive behavior, shootings and violence in schools and young individuals. Most beliefs about video games effect on the brain and emotions are very common misconceptions. I strongly believe that video games are an essential tool to learning and gaining much-needed skills. When people look at the studies that have been done on video games and the brain, it will be apparent that some myths about video games have been blown out of proportion. It has come to my attention that there are studies that prove the negative effects of video games may only last the duration of game play. Kids can improve in general knowledge with educational video games like Leap Frog. Video games can train specific areas of the brain as well as increase brain flexibility and memory. Gaming actually has more beneficial effects than negative effects. Video games are excellent educational implement used in elementary schools. It is extremely helpful in brain development and helping kids with trouble reading improve. Memory retention can be improved and increased with the use of strategic, thinking games. Video games, as funny as it might sound, even promote

“Life is a video game. No matter how good you get, you are always zapped in the end” (“Video Game Quotes” 1). Over time researchers, psychiatrists, and parents have often wondered how damaging violent video games can be to the youth in society. This is an important matter to people with children in their personal lives or work environment. These games have become a large risk factor for aggressive behavior in children. Researchers have been saying that video games do affect adults as well; however, they have even more effect on younger brains in early development. Video games have negative effects on childrens’ behavior. Some effects that video games have are reduced academic performance, aggression, obesity, and emotional disorder.

Playing video games is among one of the favorite pastimes of many people around the world. Some play games to kill time with simple tasks found most commonly on the phone, while others play them to challenge their mind in the form of complex puzzles or to practice management skills, some play them to experience a sense of adventure that they just can’t find anywhere else, and many use them as a way to communicate or have fun with friends both near and far. Whatever the reason someone may have for playing video games, they may not think that games can have an effect on their brains. Some would say that playing video games can lead to negative effects such as harming the player’s cognitive skills or causing them to become much more violent than normal. Others would argue that playing video games quickens the minds of their players, leading to higher mental performance or an increased attention to detail. Thanks to this hotly debated controversy many studies have been conducted over the past years in order to settle the debate once and for all. So what effect can playing video games have on the cognitive skills of their players, and are these effects positive, negative, or somewhere in the middle?