From news.bbc.co.uk:

Volunteers were exposed to distressing images, with some given the game to play 30 minutes later, the PLoS One journal reported.

Players had fewer "flashbacks", perhaps because it helped disrupt the laying down of memories, said the scientists.

It is hoped the study could aid the development of new strategies for minimising the impact of trauma.

However, the researchers accept translating their findings into practical applications could prove difficult.

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From calorielab.com:

“The widely held view that the proliferation of video games, and gamers, contributes significantly to the increase in obesity among the young may have taken a serious hit to the credibility. A study by researchers at USC — which we’re betting supplied plenty of video gamers for studying — found that in the case of at least some games, specifically online role-playing games, and even more specifically “EverQuest II,” players are typically in better physical shape than the average American.

The study involved over 7,000 online responses to a survey that found, unexpectedly, that more “EverQuest II” players were in their 30s than in their 20s, that the older players logged more playing hours, and that the typical player put in nearly 26 hours per week — 29 for women, 25 for men. Even more unexpectedly, the surveyed gamers report exercising more — at least once or twice a week — than 62 percent of American adults, and based on their stated height and weight, are 10 percent leaner than the average American. “

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From wired.com:

“This led Steinkuehler to a fascinating and provocative conclusion: Videogames are becoming the new hotbed of scientific thinking for kids today.

This makes sense if you think about it for a second. After all, what is science? It’s a technique for uncovering the hidden rules that govern the world. And videogames are simulated worlds that kids are constantly trying to master. Lineage and World of Warcraft aren’t “real” world, of course, but they are consistent — the behavior of the environment and the creatures in it are governed by hidden and generally unchanging rules, encoded by the game designers. In the process of learning a game, gamers try to deduce those rules.

This leads them, without them even realizing it, to the scientific method.”

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