Playing Tetris increases gray matter

LONDON: Playing Tetris may help increase brain efficiency, says a study published in the open access journal BMC Research.

Researchers from Mind Research Network in Albuquerque, US, examined the effects of practice in the brain using two image techniques.

Dr Rex Jung and Dr Richard Haier, co-investigators in the Tetris study, made use of brain imaging and Tetris to see if practice makes the brain efficient because it increases gray matter.

Jung, a clinical neuropsychologist, said “Recent findings in brain research have shown that juggling practice increased gray matter in the motor areas of the brain.”

“We did our Tetris study to see if mental practice increased cortical thickness, a sign of more gray matter. If it did, it could be an explanation for why previous studies have shown that mental practice increases brain efficiency.” he added.

Haier, lead author of a previous research that discovered practicing Tetris led to greater brain efficiency, added “There was a difference in cortical thickness between the girls that practiced Tetris and those that did not. But how a thicker cortex and increased brain efficiency are related remains a mystery.” ANI

BRAIN GAME: Tetris