Video games are not the mind-melting devil creations that your parents made them out to be.
電子游戲并不是你父母口中有害心智的惡魔。

Not only can gaming be a whole lot of fun, but recent research has?revealed?there's also a range of scientific benefits to playing videogames.
打游戲不僅能帶來樂趣，最近的研究還顯示電子游戲有一系列益處。

Here are six of the best benefits:
這里列舉出玩游戲的六大益處：

1. 3D video games could increase memory capacity
1. 3D電子游戲可提升記憶容量

In a 2015 study in The Journal of Neuroscience, researchers from the University of California, Irvine recruited 69 participants, and asked a third to play Super Mario 3D World for two weeks, a third to play Angry Birds, and the rest to play nothing.
《神經(jīng)科學》雜志2015年刊登過一項研究，加州大學歐文分校的研究人員招募了69名志愿者，要求其中三分之一的人用兩周時間玩“超級馬里奧3D世界”、三分之一玩“憤怒的小鳥”、剩下三分之一什么也不玩。

The people who played Mario ended up doing better on follow-up memory tasks, while the others showed no improvement pre- and post-gaming.
結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，第一組志愿者在后續(xù)的記憶任務中表現(xiàn)更佳，而其他兩組在游戲前后的表現(xiàn)并不存在顯著差異。

"Video gamers who specifically favour complex 3D video games performed better," the researchers concluded.
研究人員總結(jié)道：“特別喜歡復雜3D游戲的玩家表現(xiàn)得更好?！?/div>

2. Gaming could be good for pain relief
2. 游戲有助于緩解疼痛

This one is the best excuse for playing video games on your next sick day – a 2012 literature review published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that in the 38 studies examined, video games improved the health outcomes of 195 patients on every front, including psychological and physical therapy.
下次生病想打游戲的時候就可以用這個理由——2012年，《美國預防醫(yī)學》雜志的一篇文獻綜述寫道，從38項研究中可以看出，電子游戲從各個方面提升了195名患者的身心健康程度。

Plus, in 2010, scientists presented research at the American Pain Society's conference, which found evidence that playing video games, especially virtual reality games, are effective at reducing anxiety or pain caused by chronic illness or medical procedures.
此外，2010年，科學家在美國疼痛協(xié)會會議上介紹一項研究，該研究發(fā)現(xiàn)玩電子游戲(尤其是虛擬現(xiàn)實游戲)能夠有效地緩解由慢性疾病或醫(yī)療過程引起的焦慮或疼痛。

"The focus is drawn to the game not the pain or the medical procedure, while the virtual reality experience engages visual and other senses," said Jeffrey Gold from the University of Southern California.
南加州大學的Jeffrey Gold表示，虛擬現(xiàn)實游戲調(diào)動視覺和其他感官，將注意力吸引到游戲上，這樣人們就不會被疼痛或醫(yī)療程序所吸引。

3. There's evidence games help dyslexic kids improve their reading
3. 游戲能夠幫助失讀癥兒童提升閱讀能力

Video games can help kids, too!
電子游戲也對兒童有益！

A 2013 study published in Cell investigated the effect that playing action games, like 'Rayman Raving Rabbids', could help dyslexic children aged 7 to 13 year read faster, with no loss in accuracy.
《細胞》雜志2013年刊登的一項研究表明，動作類游戲（比如雷曼瘋狂兔子）能夠幫助7-13歲的失讀癥兒童在不降低精確度的前提下提升閱讀速度。

The results were equal or better to traditional reading treatments, which can be more time consuming and not as fun.
游戲療法的成效等同于或優(yōu)于傳統(tǒng)閱讀治療，但后者更耗時、且不那么有趣。

The researchers think that the fast pace in these games helped the kids increase their attention spans, although this hypothesis is yet to be tested.
研究人員認為，這類游戲的快節(jié)奏能夠提升兒童保持注意力的時間，但此假說尚未得到證實。

4. Tetris could help limit trauma
4. 俄羅斯方塊有助抑制創(chuàng)傷

Trusty old Tetris might be good for more than just time wasting if this new study is anything to go by.
如果這項研究能有進展，那么古老的俄羅斯方塊游戲就不僅僅是用來消耗時間的了。

Last year, 37 patients that arrived at a hospital emergency department in Oxford, UK, to be treated for a traffic accident were randomly selected to play 20 minutes of Tetris. Another 34 patients didn't get given the game, but were asked to log their regular activity instead – including things such as texting, crosswords, and reading.
去年，英國牛津一場交通事故中，有37位接受急診治療的患者被隨機選中玩20分鐘俄羅斯方塊，另外34位患者則被要求進行其它常規(guī)活動，如發(fā)短信、填字謎、閱讀等。

The Tetris players had significantly less flashbacks to the traumatic traffic event than those that didn't – about 62 percent less on average.
結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，俄羅斯方塊玩家更少回憶起另人不快的交通事故，且效應十分顯著——平均減少62%。

The research, published last month in Molecular Psychiatry, concludes that the "brief, science-driven intervention offers a low-intensity means that could substantially improve the mental health of those who have experienced psychological trauma."
上個月，這項研究發(fā)表于《分子精神病學》：“這是一種簡單科學的低強度干預方式，卻能夠大幅提升遭受心理創(chuàng)傷者的心理健康?！?/div>

5. Some research shows that video games might actually make you smarter
5. 電子游戲或能使你更聰明

A study published in PLoS ONE in 2013 goes as far as saying that your cognition might be enhanced when you start up your Xbox or PlayStation.
2013年，一項發(fā)表在《公共科學圖書館》的研究表明，電子游戲或許能夠增強認知功能。

The researchers took five groups of non-gamers, and made them play a phone game for one hour a day over four weeks.
研究人員探究了五組非游戲玩家，讓他們在四周時間里每天玩一小時手機游戲。

They found that all video games, both action and non-action games, improved cognitive function in the participants – measured by tests such as short term memory tasks.
結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，所有電子游戲(包括動作類與非動作類)都能夠提升參與者的認知功能，短期記憶水平等測試都證實了這一點。

6. Gaming is linked to an increase in brain matter
6. 玩游戲可增加大腦物質(zhì)

A 2014 study published in Molecular Psychiatry by researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Germany from the found that playing Super Mario 64 caused an increase in the size of brain regions.
《分子精神病學》2014年發(fā)表過德國馬克斯普朗克研究所的一項研究，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)玩“超級馬里奧64”可以擴大腦區(qū)。

Specifically the bits of the brain responsible for spatial orientation, memory formation, strategic planning, and fine motor skills.
尤其是負責空間定位、記憶形成、策略制定和小肌肉運動技能的區(qū)域。

When the researchers looked at 24 participants who had played the game for 30 minutes a day for two months under an MRI machine they found that they had increased grey matter in the right hippocampus, right prefrontal cortex, and the cerebellum, compared to a control group that hadn't played any game.
在兩個月時間內(nèi)，24名參與者每天在核磁共振機器的監(jiān)測下玩30分鐘游戲。結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，相較于控制組，游戲玩家的右側(cè)海馬體、右側(cè)前額皮質(zhì)和小腦的灰質(zhì)均有所增加。

"This proves that specific brain regions can be trained by means of video games", said one of the researchers, Simone Küh, at the time.
“這說明電子游戲能夠訓練特定大腦區(qū)域。”一位研究員Simone Küh說道。

So there you go – scientists have totally just backed your decision to play video games all weekend.
所以，科學家們給你整個周末打游戲的決定提供了強有力的支持。

（翻譯：君兒）

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