Want To Really Train You Brain? Play Portal 2
Sure, Portal 2 is a brain-bending puzzle game, but you normally don’t think of it in the same vein as games like Brain Training or Lumosity.com, which is all about games that supposedly sharpen your mental facilities. Well, according to a new study, Portal 2 could be more beneficial for your brain than most games specifically designed for that concept.
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Val Shute researches the psychology of education at Florida State University. She and two other colleagues ran a study comparing Portal 2 to Lumosity and after roughly 8 hours of playing, people who played Portal 2 did better than those who played Lumosity in several cognitive skill tests. In addition, in none of the tests did Lumosity players show more improvement than Portal 2 players. Shute said that “Portal 2 kicks Lumosity’s ass”.
"If entertainment games actually do a better job than games designed for neuroplasticity,” Green says, “what that suggests is that we are clearly missing something important about neuroplasticity."
Granted, the study is hardly a definitive answer, but it does raise the idea that games designed a “mere entertainment” can potentially be just as good if not better for you than any traditional education software in terms of cognitive skills. After all, many games require good reading comprehension and the ability to think fast and adapt, just not in the more traditional ways some would consider. And hey, it’s always good to have an excuse to play Portal 2…
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