I once loathed those individuals who were always on their phones, pulling and plugging away at the various games they downloaded recently. You know those harbingers who blanket the Facebook page crying out for "more lives!" I just couldn't fathom the sheer power of personal happiness that could accompany a simple game. That was until I found myself waiting on vacation recently in an overcrowded restaurant. Anything with a long stint that requires a stationary position for a long time could beacon the call of a painful flare-up. There I was amidst 20 or so patrons waiting for service when a painful flare-up attached its claws. Sitting there refusing to leave, I flipped through my apps and noticed the Candy Crush Saga. I was in no mood to sit a moment longer, as pain cursed my body, and I thought, what can it hurt?
After cruising through a few levels at warp speed, I took mental note my pain was gone! I went inward trying to feel the trail that once engulfed the massive wave, but it was only a residual mark barely noticeable! Soon, I began picking up my phone when I came home from an awful, harrowing day at work to play a couple of games to unwind. I felt as though I was toting my favorite wine, years gone now, due to restrictions. It had the same sedating, calming effect allowing my frazzled nerves to unwind.
According to new research reported in Asian News International, playing immersive games can produce brain reactions similar to those produced by powerful painkilling drugs. Dr. Jeffrey I. Gold of USC's Keck School of Medicine, the benefits go beyond just taking your mind off the pain. After using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine to measure the mental activity of patients exposed to pain while playing video games, he found the resulting pain reduction was not simply a result of distraction, but actually involved the games inducing an opiate-like response in certain regions of the brain.
Gold and his team aren't yet certain why video games produce these pain-killing reactions, but it's likely to be due to the attention-grabbing, immersive nature of various games, he told ANI. Even simply watching video games produces a mild effect, they found, but the more engaging the experience, the bigger the analgesic effect.
After cruising through a few levels at warp speed, I took mental note my pain was gone! I went inward trying to feel the trail that once engulfed the massive wave, but it was only a residual mark barely noticeable! Soon, I began picking up my phone when I came home from an awful, harrowing day at work to play a couple of games to unwind. I felt as though I was toting my favorite wine, years gone now, due to restrictions. It had the same sedating, calming effect allowing my frazzled nerves to unwind.
According to new research reported in Asian News International, playing immersive games can produce brain reactions similar to those produced by powerful painkilling drugs. Dr. Jeffrey I. Gold of USC's Keck School of Medicine, the benefits go beyond just taking your mind off the pain. After using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine to measure the mental activity of patients exposed to pain while playing video games, he found the resulting pain reduction was not simply a result of distraction, but actually involved the games inducing an opiate-like response in certain regions of the brain.
Gold and his team aren't yet certain why video games produce these pain-killing reactions, but it's likely to be due to the attention-grabbing, immersive nature of various games, he told ANI. Even simply watching video games produces a mild effect, they found, but the more engaging the experience, the bigger the analgesic effect.
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