Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Brains on video games

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 12, pages 763–768 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

The popular press is replete with stories about the effects of video and computer games on the brain. Sensationalist headlines claiming that video games 'damage the brain' or 'boost brain power' do not do justice to the complexities and limitations of the studies involved, and create a confusing overall picture about the effects of gaming on the brain. Here, six experts in the field shed light on our current understanding of the positive and negative ways in which playing video games can affect cognition and behaviour, and explain how this knowledge can be harnessed for educational and rehabilitation purposes. As research in this area is still in its early days, the contributors of this Viewpoint also discuss several issues and challenges that should be addressed to move the field forward.

Does playing video or computer games have beneficial effects on brain and behaviour? If so, does the evidence point to general improvements in cognitive function?

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Acknowledgements

D.H.H. thanks the Korean Game Culture Foundation for data and technical support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Daphne Bavelier is at the Brain & Vision Lab, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.,

    Daphne Bavelier

  2. Department of Psychology, C. Shawn Green is at the Center for Cognitive Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.,

    C. Shawn Green

  3. Doug Hyun Han is at the Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Chung Ang University, 224-1 HeukSeok-Dong, Dong Jack-Gu, Seoul, Korea 156-755.,

    Doug Hyun Han

  4. Perry F. Renshaw is at the Department of Psychiatry and the Brain Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84108, USA.,

    Perry F. Renshaw

  5. Michael M Merzenich is at the W.M. Keck Foundation Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of California San Francisco, California 94143, USA.,

    Michael M. Merzenich

  6. Department of Psychology, Douglas A. Gentile is at the Media Research Lab, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA.,

    Douglas A. Gentile

Authors
  1. Daphne Bavelier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. Shawn Green
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Doug Hyun Han
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Perry F. Renshaw
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Michael M. Merzenich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Douglas A. Gentile
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Daphne Bavelier, C. Shawn Green, Doug Hyun Han, Perry F. Renshaw, Michael M. Merzenich or Douglas A. Gentile.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Related links

Related links

FURTHER INFORMATION

Douglas A. Gentile's homepage

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bavelier, D., Green, C., Han, D. et al. Brains on video games. Nat Rev Neurosci 12, 763–768 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3135

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3135

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing