Playing Tetris Makes Brain Efficient and Thickens Cortex

Posted by Adrian in Games, Science on 09 2nd, 2009 | no responses

The researchers at the Mind Research Network published the results of a scientific study that investigates whether practice increases gray matter thus making the brain efficient. The tools used by the scientists were the well-known Tetris game and brain imaging. The study lasted for three months, in which time a group of adolescent girls practiced Tetris. The results showed that the group that played the game had greater brain efficiency and also a thicker cortex compared to the control group that did not play.

“One of the most surprising findings of brain research in the last five years was that juggling practice increased gray matter in the motor areas of the brain,” said Dr. Rex Jung, a co-investigator on the Tetris study and a clinical neuropsychologist. “We did our Tetris study to see if mental practice increased cortical thickness, a sign of more gray matter. If it did, it could be an explanation for why previous studies have shown that mental practice increases brain efficiency. More gray matter in an area could mean that the area would not need to work as hard during Tetris play.”

“We showed that practice on a challenging visuospatial task has an impact on the structure of the cortex, which is in keeping with a growing body of scientific evidence showing that the brain can change with stimulation and is in striking contrast with the pervasive and only-recently outmoded belief that our brain’s structure is fixed,” said Dr. Sherif Karama, a co-investigator at the Montreal Neurological Institute.

What makes this study special is the use of two imaging techniques, structural MRI scan to establish the cortical thickness and functional MRI scans to observe efficient activity.

“We were excited to see cortical thickness differences between the girls that practiced Tetris and those that did not,” said Dr. Richard Haier, a co-investigator in the study and lead author of a 1992(1) study that found practicing Tetris led to greater brain efficiency. “But, it was surprising that these changes were not where we saw more efficiency. How a thicker cortex and increased brain efficiency are related remains a mystery.”

According to the researchers, Tetris was a useful tool for brain research. “Tetris, for the brain, is quite complex,” said Haier. “It requires many cognitive processes like attention, hand/eye co-ordination, memory and visual spatial problem solving all working together very quickly. It’s not surprising that we see changes throughout the brain.”

The reason why adolescents were used in the study was that the changes are more obvious in developing brains. Using girls in the study led to more detectable brain change after game practice because of the more limited computer game experience as opposed from the boys.