If you haven’t seen your kids since Christmas because they’re nonstop playing video games, this story should come as some comfort. Recent research indicates that, rather than rotting kids’ brains like social media does, video games may actually sharpen kids’ brains.

The Washington Post recently lined up a number of experts who explained the benefits of playing video games. “Playing action video games in particular may prove beneficial for a wide range of skills, such as our attention for visual information and our ability to learn,” C. Shawn Green told The Washington Post. Dr. Green is chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The newspaper cites a 2024 fMRI study of 31 heavy gamers and 31 non-gamers, which found that the gamers were “more efficient in processing information.” They cite other research that shows that gaming “can help slow brain aging.”

A 2025 study from Anhui Medical University in Hefei, China, found that video gaming improved the cognitive abilities of patients suffering from schizophrenia. Fifteen patients spent an hour a day watching TV, and 12 spent that hour playing video games. “[T]he cognitive function of the game group was significantly improved,” researchers say.

They note that the video gaming group had significantly increased levels of Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), a protein that is “significantly correlated with cognitive function.”

Carlos Coronel-Oliveros, a neuroscientist with the Global Brain Health Institute at the University of California, San Francisco, and Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, told The Washington Post:

Creative hobbies, including video games, may help protect neural connections that are vulnerable to aging and improve the brain’s ability to transmit and process information.

People playing “action video games” that require split-second decisions are reported to have better-than-average vision and perform better with spatial tasks. The video gamers have better visual perception and “learned more quickly.”

A fascinating study at the University of Colorado Boulder noted a “small but significant cognitive benefit” from playing video games. The study is based on the CATSlife longitudinal study of siblings and twins.

The study involved 1,241 twins between the ages of 28 and 49. Researchers conducted three tests to assess spatial reasoning, working memory, and processing speed. Here are some of the results:

• Spatial reasoning benefited most consistently from playing video games, although the effect was about half as large after adjusting for IQ.

• Processing speed performance could increase after playing video games.

• Working memory did not show evidence of improvement due to video game play.

The Washington Post ends its deep dive into the benefits of playing video games with a few suggestions:

Don’t overdo it. The studies showing cognitive benefits from gaming are usually based on 30-minute or 1-hour sessions, not marathon sessions that can damage your health.

Switch it up. Once a game is no longer challenging, the cognitive benefits diminish.

Puzzles vs. Action. The puzzle-type games favored more by women and older gamers are better at improving processing speed, and the action games favored by younger men are better at improving spatial awareness.

Gaming addiction is recognized as a disorder by the World Health Organization (WHO). When compulsive gaming reaches that level, it is harmful to the user and usually requires intervention and treatment. However, recent studies have shown that gaming does not result in the ADHD problems associated with compulsive social media use.

We can worry a little less about what video games are doing to our kids, and look instead at how playing those games can be beneficial — not just for them — but for the grownups, too.

Written by Steve O’Keefe. First published December 31, 2025.

Sources:

“Video games may be a surprisingly good way to get a cognitive boost,” The Washington Post, December 21, 2025.

“Smartphone video games effectively improve cognitive function in middle-aged and elderly patients with chronic schizophrenia: a randomized clinical trial,” Translational Psychiatry, April 18, 2025.

“Video games don’t rot your brain — they train it,” Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine, August 18, 2025.

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