Strategic video game improves critical cognitive skills in ol...(es however. There was a correlation ...),Health

There was a correlation between their performance on the game and their improvement on certain cognitive tests, Kramer said.

Those who did well in the game also improved the most on switching between tasks. They also tended to do better on tests of working memory.

"In medical terminology, these would be dose-response effects," Kramer said. "The more drug or in this case the more training on the video game the more benefit."

The findings are meaningful, Basak said, because they show that multi-dimensional training can affect many individual components of cognitive function.

"The fact that you're training people in a molecule and finding transfer to atoms I think is very impressive," she said.

"This is one mode in which older people can stay mentally fit, cognitively fit," Kramer said. "I'm not suggesting, however, that it's the only thing they should do."

Other activities, in particular socializing, exercising and eating well, are also important to maintaining healthy cognitive function in later years, he said.

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