It turns out that games might not be so bad for your eyes after all.
Video games, alongside masturbation and reading in poorly lit areas, have long been considered a natural predator of the human eye. According to one Pyschologist at McMaster University in Canada, 40 hours of good, old-fashioned, action-packed gaming could actually improve a subject’s vision. Assuming they have cataracts.
According to the study conducted by Psychologist Daphne Maurer, subjects with cataracts who played 40 hours of action video games over four weeks became better at seeing small print, discerning the direction of moving dots and identifying faces.
A cataract is a naturally occurring clouding of the eye’s lens that obscures vision. While it’s a condition that mostly affects the elderly, it does occasionally affect children shortly after birth.
The subjects in the study were men and women between 19 and 31 who had been born with cataracts and still had vision problems despite having underwent surgery. According to the study, visually dense, action-orientated titles like Call of Duty yielded the best results. Less dynamic games, such as the ever popular Tetris, won’t provide the same results. The one downside to this news is that while playing Call of Duty may improve your vision, playing it online may also make you wish you were deaf.
Dr. Maurer will be presenting her findings to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Vancouver.
News of the study originally appeared on the Daily Mail website, where it’s met with a less than enthusiastic response. That being said, a pro-gaming article in the Daily Mail almost merits its own headline.
Source: The Daily Mail
