Games are typically associated with children. But not only children play games – especially today. This specific form of entertainment has experienced a boom in popularity. The gaming industry is one of the most prolific and prosperous industries of today, all thanks to ground-breaking advancements in technology – or should we say the internet.
Namely, as technology evolved, a host of opportunities opened up right in the gaming sphere. But, despite being so popular, a certain stigma still surrounds the notion, with most of it stemming from prejudices that follow gaming – especially those about the drawbacks of gaming and negative influences.
Thankfully, several studies about video games and their effects on the brain were conducted in order to break down the phenomenon and understand what exactly happens to our minds and bodies when we play games. The results are promising: gaming does influence us, but not necessarily in a bad way. A plethora of positive aspects was linked directly to gaming, among which memory boost stands as the key result.
The Correlation
Memory and gaming are two concepts that rarely go separately. Simply put, it is impossible to think about any game where you do not need to pay attention and remember things. And that is precisely why good memory is one of the key tools for an active player.
On the other hand, people who suffer from memory loss are advised to use strategies and to play games so as to stimulate their brainpower. Patients who experienced severe head trauma and as a result suffered from amnesia, use memory techniques to speed up the process of recovering data.
The relationship between these two is founded on the premise that by activating certain parts of our brains, we are able to train them to become sharper and more active. Just like going to the gym to strengthen our muscles, brain exercise in terms of games helps us revitalize parts of our brains that we otherwise would not use.
Games That You Can Play
Great memory will be of great importance no matter which type of game you choose. Be it sudoku or Poker, being able to memorize and follow your and/or your opponents’ moves is, usually, essential.
One of the best examples where memory is essential is chess. Chess is one of the greatest games in the world but having a great memory can often be the turning point which decides the winner of the duel. Yes, in chess it is important to visualize several moves in advance, but generally, you are not able to do that if you do not know what happened before.
Video games represent another great example. Action-packed video games are tied to high levels of adrenaline. When we start releasing adrenaline, attention and focus are sharpened, blood rate and blood pressureare increased, and you become more focused on the game. The so-called ‘fight or flight’ instinct, or better yet, the survival instinct kicks in, and you transform the simulated experience into a training ground for your memory, reaction, and control techniques.
The best examples are action video games with a lot of shooting where you need to use tactics to evade and/or attack your opponents.
Good memory is important for casino games as well. Games such as blackjack or poker require a great deal of concentration. While poker activates several parts of your brain, blackjack requires the use of short-term memory.
As a representative from BlackjackGala has informed us, by paying attention to your cards as well as the dealer’s, you are able to predict the odds and practice your memory. The main point of the game is to get the dealer to bust, and you cannot do that without a firm knowledge of the odds and good memory.
Conclusion
As we have seen, gaming and memory are closely related. Gaming boosts your memory and attention, whereas good memory is one of the most important components of playing games.
The close relationship has been further explored and confirmed through the invention of memory games. Granted, such games have existed far too longer than any of these types of games that we have mentioned, but we cannot evade the fact that we today live in the instant technological society, where video games are the primary form of gaming and entertainment.
