Study: Video games help children’s impulse control

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - If you’re worried about how much time your kid spends playing video games, a new study that might make you feel a bit better.

A study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health found gaming may actually help with several things, including cognition and impulse control.

The study looked at 9 and 10-year-olds who reported their activity on screens and games. It’s the largest of its kind to date.

The study found kids who played video games three or more hours a day did better on tasks that required memory and impulse control than those who did not play.

The children who did play games also had higher activity levels associated with attention and working memory in parts of the brain.

You can read the complete study, published in Jama Network Open, here.

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