Fans of action video games have now been given a new excuse for spending hours in front of a screen. According to research published in today’s issue of Nature Neuroscience, action video games may train our eyesight so we have a better contrast sensitivity function (CSF), which is our ability to detect shades and colors that differ from the background. Daphne Bavelier, from the University of Rochester, and her colleagues compared the eyesights of expert action and non-action gamers and found that only action games enhanced CSF.
Poor CSF makes it difficult for people to drive, read, and perform a variety of other functions. CSF isn’t a matter of how clearly you see things; instead, it’s related to the brightness perception of your vision, and is based on both the capabilities of our eyes and the neural components that interpret what they perceive. Thus, it’s possible to improve CSF without changing basic aspects of vision by training the brain in a way that heightens awareness of contrast.
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