Good at RTSs? You might have big brains!

[GoodGame]

From Gamespot.com, summarizing a print article from a science journal:

Rise of Nations used in research that finds a person's speed at learning a complex game could be tied to size of certain regions of the brain.

In an experiment that had 20 participants each playing nearly 24 hours' worth of the 2003 RTS game Rise of Nations, Dr. Chandramallika Basak of Rice University found that those with larger specific regions of the brain were better able to master the complex game.

Dr. Basak's study involved 20 adults between the ages of 65 and 75 who had no familiarity with strategy games. Before participants started playing the game, the researchers took high-resolution MRI images of their brains. Over a month and a half, Dr. Basak had the participants rack up 23.5 hours of Rise of Nations playtime split into 90-minute sessions. All games were played on the easiest difficulty, and the participants' ability was judged based on how quickly they were able to win each game.


"We found that grey matter volumes of five regions were correlated with complex skill acquisition, as measured by improvements in time spent to successfully play the video game," Dr. Basak concluded in the paper. The relevant areas are typically associated with a number of functions, including motor control, detecting errors, self regulation, planning, and dual tasking.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6314529.html?tag=updates;editor;all;title;3



Gray Matter
Nonmyelinated cells and circuitry that comprise the ‘central processing unit’ of the CNS and spinal cord; the thinking part of the brain, which is composed of neuronal cell bodies, initial axon segments, dendritic processes, and arborizations, glia—neuroglial cells—capillaries and vascular support; gray matter is so named because it appears grayish; brain gray matter is peripheral; spinal cord gray matter is central



Not much to discuss, but apparently owning at games with complex patterns say something about you. But can it make your brain swell bigger?

And Postal 2 might actually be good for you, if it had a complex unit leveling tree!

 

[Maniacal]

20 people is not enough to do a study on. Although certain parts of the brain being more developed would certainly help with different types of required thinking for different games. It by no means makes you have a "bigger brain" overall, just certain areas being larger may give you an advantage. Afaik the mostly get larger via swelling (which is probably fatal, you should go see a doctor) or through extensive use during brain development.

 

[Kyriakos]

RTS games usually just involve basic mathematical thinking. For example you calculate how many recourses you need, and what is the optimal time in which you can gather them. Then you can calculate if you have to sacrifice part of that optimal time so as to focus on other tasks to ensure your safety (for example building some low-level troops in AOE early will make you need more time to advance to the next era, but might prove to be essential in some maps/situations).
I do not recall any RTS going much further than such computations though.

 

[Rub'Rum]

Compared to TBS, only the time factor and reflex factor differentiate, I wonder if that has any impact.

I do not recall any RTS going much further than such computations though.

That's already more than the average person seems to do on a daily basis.

 

[GoodGame]

20 people is not enough to do a study on. Although certain parts of the brain being more developed would certainly help with different types of required thinking for different games. It by no means makes you have a "bigger brain" overall, just certain areas being larger may give you an advantage. Afaik the mostly get larger via swelling (which is probably fatal, you should go see a doctor) or through extensive use during brain development.

Sample size of 20 actually is adequate for drawing statistical conclusion (e.g. see Student T-test ) for some purposes.

Obviously they have to go bigger if they're going to generalize to the nation's populations. An obviously they aren't claiming developmental growth from playing games---i.e. they aren't claiming your brain will increase in volume. The application might be that RTSs, or derivatives of them, might be a good screening test.



I think RoN is sufficiently nuanced that there are more than force multiplier maths going on to play. But it might be that just manipulating the interface of an RTS is more mental activity than the average 65-something year old gets.

 

[NedimNapoleon]

I used to play Rise of Nations everyday, I was a pro, me and my friends play huge lan parties at a local internet cafe (the owner made a competition), and we won.

 

[Rub'Rum]

Someone just talked about T-tests in All Other Games forum. I must now bid you farewell.

 

[Ciek]

Rise of nations... wow... that brings up some memories.

 

[carmen510]

I refuse to believe that every Starcraft player in existence ever has a bigger brain than me, although I will probably concede that they use it much more.

 

[civ_king]

From Gamespot.com, summarizing a print article from a science journal:




http://www.gamespot.com/news/6314529.html?tag=updates;editor;all;title;3



Gray Matter
Nonmyelinated cells and circuitry that comprise the ‘central processing unit’ of the CNS and spinal cord; the thinking part of the brain, which is composed of neuronal cell bodies, initial axon segments, dendritic processes, and arborizations, glia—neuroglial cells—capillaries and vascular support; gray matter is so named because it appears grayish; brain gray matter is peripheral; spinal cord gray matter is central



Not much to discuss, but apparently owning at games with complex patterns say something about you. But can it make your brain swell bigger?

And Postal 2 might actually be good for you, if it had a complex unit leveling tree!

Only 20 participants? My science fair psychological study used 30 people (it studied the effect of gender stereotypes on how shows are perceived by people, it found that some girls dislike MLP:FIM because feminine things are perceived as weak, while once guys actually watched it it chipped away at the facade of masculinity and they became nicer people).

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Isn't it just saying that increased development in certain regions of the brain has a positive impact? I don't think it implies that RTSers are smarter than any other given group.

 

[Quackers]

I absolutely thrashed my friends at Age of Empires one 2v1.

I got a massive brain DERRRRP

 

[GoodGame]

Isn't it just saying that increased development in certain regions of the brain has a positive impact? I don't think it implies that RTSers are smarter than any other given group.

You're correct that it isn't trying to draw a causal conclusion.

It isn't trying to say RTS play develops one brain (though that might be a reasonable hypothesis to test).
It is saying that RTS can be used as a screening tool for such brain development (or at least the lack of loss of function, since they're testing in an elder age group).

 

[Disgustipated]

Since I am not good at RTS's, does that mean I have a small brain?

I tried to get into them, but I just like to take my time and not be rushed. Time restraints on a game on a global scale never made sense to me. It's not like Roosevelt only had seconds to respond to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

 

[Rub'Rum]

Since I am not good at RTS's, does that mean I have a small brain?

I tried to get into them, but I just like to take my time and not be rushed. Time restraints on a game on a global scale never made sense to me. It's not like Roosevelt only had seconds to respond to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

No but he might in 2011... Stupid modern days.

 

[GoodGame]

Since I am not good at RTS's, does that mean I have a small brain?

I tried to get into them, but I just like to take my time and not be rushed. Time restraints on a game on a global scale never made sense to me. It's not like Roosevelt only had seconds to respond to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

That'd be a corollary to causation, which the study isn't claiming.