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Brain plasticity through the life span: learning to learn and action video games
Daphne Bavelier1, C Shawn Green, Alexandre Pouget
1Department of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland. daphne@bcs.rochester.edu
Annual Review of Neuroscience
|June 22, 2012
Summary
Complex training, like action video games, enhances the brain's ability to learn across different tasks. This "learning to learn" capacity has significant implications for education and rehabilitation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Educational Technology
Background:
- Human learning is often task-specific, limiting its application in real-world scenarios like rehabilitation and education.
- Developing training methods that promote generalizable learning is crucial for practical skill acquisition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review how complex training environments, specifically action video games, can enhance brain plasticity and learning.
- To explore the concept of "learning to learn" and its potential benefits.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of studies on action video game play and cognitive training.
- Analysis of computational requirements and neural mechanisms underlying enhanced learning.
Main Results:
- Action video game play has been shown to foster brain plasticity and improve learning capacity.
- This enhanced capacity, termed "learning to learn," suggests a more adaptable and efficient learning process.
Conclusions:
- Complex, engaging training environments like action video games may offer a powerful method for improving general learning abilities.
- Further research into the neural basis of "learning to learn" could unlock new training paradigms for diverse applications.
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