Author: Sajia Athai, Class of 2026

Figure 1. Pictures on a map representing memories.

People often fear the likelihood of their relatives and friends struggling to remember them as they age. From diseases such as Alzheimer’s to dementia, patients all over the world often struggle with the detrimental impacts of memory loss and the inability to form new ones.  Previous experiments unveil the impact of computer gaming on cognitive skills. A research study conducted in the Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Geriatric Diseases reveals the possibility of a correlation between computer gaming and dementia. Researchers Yiming Jia and Mengyao Shi led the study exploring an association between increasing frequency of playing games and reduced risk of dementia. The researchers studied 471,346 British participants without dementia for an extended period. These results were further divided into clusters using randomized control trials and linear regression models.

The study reveals that with higher frequencies of playing computer games, a lower risk of dementia appeared. It was presented that the games yielded better results in working memory, verbal memory, cognitive skills, and increased volume in the hippocampus. Additionally, utilizing computer games daily can be linked to increased processing speed and longer attention span. A meta-analysis involving 9 RCTs (randomized control trial) with about 409 mild cognitive impairment & dementia patients indicated a positive impact of video gaming usage on Mini-Mental State Examination scores. This data supports the idea of designing a treatment to improve working memory and attention in patients by combining games and therapy. 

Although high frequency and growth are shown to have a positive association, there is not enough evidence to indicate a relationship between incident dementia (early stage or mild dementia) and the frequency of playing games. Each trial focused on an aspect such as processing speed or cognition. There was also a limited amount of data about the effects of frequency changes (smaller vs. larger). In addition, the sample of participants chosen did not include those with mild symptoms who have not sought medical intervention. The participants were also mostly European, which excludes people of other ethnic backgrounds. These limitations made it challenging to determine whether an association exists between dementia and playing computer games. 

While it has not been proven whether an association between games and dementia exists, the data supports ideas for future research that should be conducted and designed to test the relationship. Through this exploration, there is hope that loved ones with dementia will be able to be supported in better ways.

Works Cited:

[1] Jia, Y., Shi, M., Yang, P., Wang, R., Sun, L., Wang, Y., Xu, Q., Zhang, J., Zhang, Q., Guo, D., Zheng, X., Liu, Y., Chang, X., He, Y., Hui, L., Chen, G.-C., Zhang, Y., & Zhu, Z. (2024, June 19). Associations of computer gaming with incident dementia, cognitive functions, and brain structure: A prospective cohort study and mendelian randomization analysis – alzheimer’s research & therapy. BioMed Central. https://alzres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13195-024-01496-7.

[2] Image taken from https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-of-pictures-185933/.