A big thing for video games with growing children is that they tend to help with understanding spatial tasks, much more than those who didn't have the same experiences when growing up. It totally makes sense if you think about how a lot of a video game's progress is understanding where you are and where things are. (Journal source: The cognitive effects of playing video games with a navigational component.)
I've heard that surgeons who played video games as teenagers were better at laparoscopic procedures. They already had hundreds of hours of experience matching what happens on a screen with what they do with their hands.
We really need to start explicitly teaching the difference between generalities and generalizations. Something can be true on a population level without necessarily being true for any individual person you point at on the street. Also, yes, please do get into the problems with IQ testing (and the problems with trying to define "intelligence" in the first place in order to test it at all).
Uh... can you explain the difference? Because I thought the problem was just the misapplication of generalities, which I thought was a synonym for generalizations.
@@joshyoung1440 Generalities are just trends-patterns seen across a population, like averages, that help us understand the big picture without boxing anyone in. Generalizations, though? They’re those blanket statements we throw over everyone, ignoring individual uniqueness. People aren’t cookie-cutter copies, and using generalizations as if they’re absolute truth? That’s how you end up with misunderstandings, stereotypes
Also IQ is very inaccurate because it's based entirely in neurotypical brain activity which is a poor way to represent the total nature of psychological behaviour. It's more important to measure functions and how energy is distributed by the brain so we understand better how it works
I only sat through a little segment of the video. I can't take that lack of critical thinking. The 5th myth is in depth explicitly explained to NOT be a myth by the presenter themselves. It goes on developing. Thanks, then it's not a myth then -- it's a misguided "and thus so and so" that comes from it. The fact itself, while calling it "a myth", you reiterate and confirm to be the truth.
Socks sales man... never has a persons job been more adequately discribed. Greetings from Germany, sitting here in a beautiful pair of socks from said Socks sales man.
From personal experience, my self control and inhibition seemed to not be fully developed until my mid to late 20s. This suggests to me that my prefrontal cortex was still developing and strengthening its connections up to around that age range. Correlation isn't causation and all that, but I find it interesting and worth noting.
While it seems to make sense, this kind of reasoning is sadly what causes myths to develop. It's anecdotal (n=1, only you) and the jump from self control and inhibition to prefrontal cortex development is unfounded.
Keep in mind that the prefrontal cortex is really only part of the picture- yes it handles decision making but hormones (in the general sense, as well as the stereotypical teenage definition) play a huge part in the moment as well. What's going on in your life and how you're feeling arguably is much more relevant to a decision than a few less neuron connections.
Personality is always evolving. I find I have more anxiety in my 50's than I did when I was younger. I certainly am not the same person I was earlier in life. Of course, my T levels are dropping, and that may have had some effects on my brain. And of course drug use can damage the brain as well (not that I use drugs).
@丫o You speak of the Dunning Kruger effect. Personally, I tend to underestimate my own abilities, partly because I know of the effect, and partly because I do have a fair amount of knowledge, allowing me to know my limitations.
I just wish they'd get the 'you only use 10% of your brain' argument correct. They focus on the specific term 'use', when the intended term in the original question is 'utilize'. They do this because they know that they cannot treat the word utilize like the word use. It's a gotcha used to sweep the intention under the rug. You cannot actively utilize every part of your brain. Would it give you superpowers like in Lucy? No. But it would give you access to information that we are completely blind to within our own bodies. Dozens of things are going on in it bodies every second that our brain knows about but we don't have an active understanding of. The thought terminating way they dismiss this train of thought is harmful to our understanding the brain.
I have like 500 hours in Factorio. I just got the new DLC too! I’m pretty excited. I wonder if resource management games and city builders count as strategy games? Really she only mentioned like a handful of games. Also, as a Tomb Raider enjoyer, I feel like some RPG games are a different medium to enjoy a good story - not unlike a book.
With zero actual scientific rigor, a friend in High School re-ran the Mozart experiment and found that the class did the best on the math test when they listened to The Beastie Boys. The other problem with the "brain development peaks at 25" is that development never stops. Only a very narrow definition of development actually works here, when in reality other functions continue to improve, forever, until you either die or a cognitive illness sets you back.
@@alexrogers777 what is "Cognitive function"? by "when in reality other functions continue to improve, forever" he probably meant that one optimises their most frequent tasks. "cognitive illness" is a daily flux, making the "continue to improve, forever" a useless spec of logic.
@@alexrogers777 Speaking as a guy in his 40s, I take strong issue with that "past 30-35" remark. Sounds rather ageist from where I'm sitting, still learning and developing skills as I near the twilight years of my life. Unless you've got actual dementia, that's a crock.
The brain development part has been a topic of interest for me in the past. Yes, it's true the brain keeps developing, but it does largely slow down in late twenties/early thirties. I still think it's ok to say the brain is "mature" at that point. I don't think mature has to imply the brain is finished. 1. Frontal Lobe (prefrontal cortex) Development -- parts of the frontal lobe indeed take until late twenties to early thirties to fully form. 2. Myelination -- But that's not all, there's also a pruning process where the brain gets rid of unnecessary stuff and then "myelinates" the leftovers. This process makes the brain more efficient and 'work" better. This process prepares the brain and nervous system for the rest of life and is probably the better indicator of a fully mature brain Me personally, I don't know if it's bad, but I feel like I'm still a teenager even though that I'm in my late twenties. Yes, my skills have improved, I have a better physique, and I have more money, but my thought process and personality feels largely the same. I could still pick up off the same chapter of a book I started 10 years ago and remember every detail -- it feels like no time has passed. I'm just a superior version of who I was as a teenager. I always assumed there would be a day where I start feeling like an adult, but I don't feel any different even after all the new responsibilities like taxes, mortgage, etc.
@@EhurtAfy But even your "mature" is an arbitrary point chosen for when reaction times peak and decision-making ability gain slows from the rapid improvements of adolescence. It's an inflection point, sure, but it's not the end of maturation of every measure we have. We could also say a brain is "mature" when the sum total of network connections, sometimes called "organization" peaks, which is generally sometime in middle age. This correlates, broadly, with the decision-making capability in situations with a lot of complexity, and also may explain part of the "crystalline knowledge" other researchers have referred to. There's a lot of ways to measure brain functions, and not all of them peak in your 20s.
The problem society has is not "letting their brain fully develop" it is setting expectations early on in life. Children acting the way they do is a mental process rather than a growing old one.
When my son was only a few months old, we played pop music while he was in his wing. Every time a particular artist played, he'd freak out as happy as he could be.
There's recently been some esports IQ testing done. I don't remember exact numbers, but League of Legends players scored the highest average IQ around 120, while lowest IQ was FIFA players around 85. Also I don't know how legit that testing was... either way it was funny ti watch people spam commets like "not Senna players" or "they excluded Yuumi players" and so on.
The differential associations of different game types are almost certainly selection effects rather than causal. Would need a tonne of evidence to suggest the latter over the former.
Speaking as a musicologist, one issue there's always been with the Mozart brain tests - and most similar tests about music - is controlling for cultural factors. Is there something innate to Mozart that makes you do better, or is that you're doing something that you associate with things that "smart" or "cultured" people like? Something that is framed as "intellectual" (per cultural stories about Mozart's genius)? Would someone who doesn't have that association have the same benefit? One of the reasons it's important for the humanities and sciences to talk to each other in terms of our research is so that scientists make sure to factor in cultural factors that are far from universal. Lots of cultures and people have different cultural associations with different kinds of music, and those have changed over time. That's another reason why you can't extrapolate something tested on college students (who have certain expectations of classical music from years growing up in a particular society) to babies (who don't). Or even fetuses, because I've heard stories of people putting headphones up to their pregnant bellies...
I would take the headlines regarding games and their effects on the brain ALL with a pound of salt, as I think there is a bias in ALL the studies when it comes to their effects on development, skills. brain growth etc. Each game is likely to be unique in how it affects these features and you can't assume that all even in a specific category using a specific controller operate the same way in how the brain treats them.
Supergiant has always had excellent music in their games. The Hades soundtrack is awesome. Can't wait for Hades 2. Fun to see another video game music fan. (edit: grammar)
I never understood the whole only using 10% of your brain thing. How does that even make sense? How would any creature survive with a brain that uses all those resources, but most of it doesn't function? It just doesn't make sense.
@Alex-js5lg no, it isn't, as that isn't true. The vast majority of your brain is active at any giving time. Yes, on occasion, some parts aren't active, but it never goes under like 75%. Even when you are asleep. Even in a coma it doesn't drop below 50%.
@@zogar8526 source? 75% sounds like having a seizure. do you think of all your memories simultaneously at all times while moving all parts of your body and processing all math equations and philosophical questions and sensory inputs?
@yuriserigne5524 you don't understand how your brain works at all do you? It is literally going at all times. That doesn't mean every memory is firing up, nor that all your muscles need to move. Every part of your brain does multiple things and is processing information and co trolling your body at all times. Seriously, how are people this ignornat?
@@yuriserigne5524 everyone forgets about the central nervous system and autonomic nervous system, yknow, the thing that makes you breath without consciously having to think about it? different parts of your brain will fire at different times it doesn’t all fire at the same time like a lightbulb.
I love you gave this video to present by gamer, this was really fun :) Also as one of many many boomers that learned English second language pretty much from playing RPG games, I beg to differ RPG games are worse for your brain than Mario!
The bit about language you mention in myth #1 is actually really interesting when you delve into it. I did some modules on language acquisition and development as part of my Linguistics degree, and some of the science behind it is truly fascinating. In typical humans, there are multiple sections of the brain associated with different aspects of language processes (such as retaining word meanings, converting sounds into words to look up, applying grammar to the concepts we want to express etc.). These are typically always in the same place, suggesting there is something about human development that inherently places them in the same areas of the brain in each of us. However, if one of those areas of the brain becomes damaged early enough in childhood development, other parts of the brain **can** take over that functionality. Unfortunately, that is not possible past a certain point in development, which is how sadly adults can be left with conditions such as aphasia for the rest of their lives.
You should do a video on traumatic brain injuries & permanent personally changes due to injury. It sucks living life mourning your old self and wish more people understood TBIs.
*I never EVER wanna hear a movie or TV series character claim that “we only use 10% of our brains” to justify the lazy writing of a some show runner for a character becoming superior to others via some miracle drug or whatnot! Give it a rest already, Hollywood!*
I tend to consider grand strategy and turn-based strategy as 'puzzle' games. Using the pieces given to accomplish a task... even if the task is *generally* some sort of murder. >,>
"You have a fully functioning organ up there." No I don't! (had a fever in my brain a couple of years ago and now I have a lot of trouble remembering words/names I don't use often)
I can always tell when people don't play video games. They have much poorer fine motor skills, they are often much slower readers, they have less spatial awareness, get lost more easily, are not good at piecing together seemingly unrelated bits of information, do not tend to be concerned with efficiency of their tasks (such as path routes, time for each step when processing materials, or how much effort is being used to produce something vs another method), do not calculate expected rates or how long something is projected to take without being prompted, and so much more. Video games can teach you a lot, especially if you play the good ones. Mindless games like COD or FIFA get seen as "the" games. Great puzzle games, exploration games, open world games, mystery games, construction games, and adventure games teach kids about a wide variety of subjects while also teaching skills like "Go ask around if you need information" or "Look at what is there" or "how can I get to this place" or "What do I need to bring with me for this type of trip?" Sure, they're still fantasy and not practical experience, but as a starting point and an introduction to the topic, they are invaluable. Especially since kids are INTERESTED in them and wanting to learn more, instead of being sat down and being bored and not paying attention. Kids are more interested in learning math when it helps them do better in their games than when they are doing homework problems. They are more interested in studying about habitats and species when it gives them hints as to what resources they can find in their game and where.
I highly recommend Mario Cart My boys gave me a switch for my 50th birthday. Mario Cart was my favorite from back in the Wii days. Playing it again has had remarkable impact on my real world driving. Really can't recommend it enough for older folks like me
Knowest thou notte, foolish knave, of the might and wondre of Lordes Hankivus et Johnicum Green? Prithee edit thy poem to properly reflecte the majesties of Up and Atom, and thou wouldst do welle to include Physics Girl inn additionne. Thou hast mine thancks!
Lots of people are using it as a way to control women. It’s the same weirdos making age-gap relationships out to be weird. They are the worst human beings.
@Wolfie54545 someone who is 18-24 should be able to make decisions about their own bodies. Also minors who have parental consent shouldn't be blocked from getting life saving healthcare that is recommended by health professionals.
I used my brain and looked it up- UA-cam will not let me share the link, but if you look up brain development on the National Institute of Health (NIH), or Medicine (NIM), or Mental Health (NIMH) you get a ton of research stating this same sentiment "Adolescence is an important time for brain development. Although the brain stops growing in size by early adolescence, the teen years are all about fine-tuning how the brain works. The brain finishes developing and maturing in the mid-to-late 20s. The part of the brain behind the forehead, called the prefrontal cortex, is one of the last parts to mature. This area is responsible for skills like planning, prioritizing, and making good decisions." Which is where the "myth" comes from. Not sure it's a myth if thousands of studys agree.
I throw right, bat right, kick right. I skateboard regular, snowboard goofy, shoot bow and rifle left. Nothing that was hypothesized in the 1940’s agrees.
I don't think anyone suggested that teens aren't making decisions - just those decisions are pretty bad a lot of the time. Ie TikTok challenges ..... etc...
It’s worth noting that the quality of their decisions is, among other factors, a product of the amount of information they’ve been given, the quality of that information, and whether or not they were given quality instruction on how to adequately process it all. Add to that their limited experience in the results of using that information, and you’ve got a lot of young humans just poking at things trying to figure out how it all works. It would make some sense that they screw up a lot, just as we all did at their age.
On that last myth, pure mass of grey matter isn't always a positive too, an important thing the brain does is culling unnecessary connections, saving that space and energy for more important and commonly used things.
The way I've always explained the "10% brain thing" is if you used 100% of your brain its just like turning on every switch on a machine. You don't want every switch on.
If someone tells me to play Mario instead of Fallout because "logic, puzzle, or platform" vs "RPG, or action", hasn't played Fallout on survival where you have to use logic, reasoning skills, risk vs. reward, etc. I would also point out that on the one hand you have the host questioning results when they're derived from a single study, but only sites one study concerning what types of video games are better for your brain. Hmm.
What will my Metroidvanias do to my brains? (For the uninitiated - Metroidvanias are action platformer puzzle RPG games, which is both sides of the grey matter correlation)
It's also worth noting that neurological traits only matter insofar as they're known to influence psychological traits (i.e., how you actually think/behave), and regarding development, that causal link does indeed stop being significant around 12-14, not 25 or even 21. Quoting David Moshman's (Professor Emeritus of Educational Psychology at UNL) "Adolescent Rationality and Development: Cognition, Morality, and Identity, Third Edition": "Developmental changes beyond age 12 to 14 are much too stable and individualized, it appears to me, for a developmental panel, even if it included brain experts, to succeed in distinguishing age groups on the basis of their age development. Second, there is the reductionist fallacy. Brain data seem more scientific than behavioral data, but they are not, nor do they provide us with ultimate explanations, even if psychology can in principle be reduced to biology, a dubious proposition, we are a very long way from achieving such a reduction." For those familiar with the exercise physiology world, it's a similar situation as assuming higher activity in EMG readings necessarily equals higher hypertrophy, which isn't necessarily the case. People *really* need to understand the limitations of their proxy variables!
I remember telling my dad that the human male's brain didn't fully mature until the age of 25 years. He said, "Huh, that's why men's car insurance rates drop then."
Did they consider the grey matter gained by learning how to play videogames? Because a role playing game can still be one giant puzzle if you've never played before.
Great video over all. I do want to push back on one statement in the video regarding "action" video games vs other types of video games. There have been plenty of studies suggesting that action video game play improves attentional control (especially executive attention used for decision making). Furthermore, there evidence of improved spatial abilities and perceptual processing speed. So, in essence Fallout is just as good for your brain despite people's concerns to the contrary. Not everyone agrees with these findings, and other factors may matter, but plenty of studies have supported those findings. Here is an open access example from nature: Action video game play facilitates “learning to learn”
I mean, look at the pro sports players ... they are not exactly known for their intelligence. Now look at pro video game players ... they're often nerds in top colleges. Whether this is a result of those activities or self-selection bias ... I think it's more the latter than the former but both are probably contributing factors.
Seems to me a LOT of these myths are excuses to extol one kid over another, or excuses to limit your kid from independent thinking. Gotta keep that control, don't we folks...? The video games one made me grin the most though. I'm definitely a gamer and I enjoy puzzle games the most, which sometimes makes for interesting yet awkward pauses in conversations with friends. "...what do you mean you didn't play that game? Oh right, I'm the only one who knows that series" A phrase uttered on both sides of the table, bc I don't care for action and fighting games (Fallout, CSGO, Tekken etc)...but my friends aren't fans of, oh say, Mystery Case Files. We DO share some games in common, don't get me wrong! But an MMO is far different and encompasses MANY play styles at various points, that's even one of the genre's biggest strengths.
9:30 ... I wonder if games like "Cities: Skylines" ... or "Farming Simulator" or other simulator games, help grey matter. I've only spent 1500 hours on the original Cities: Skylines, and 500 on Cities: Skylines 2...
Video games wont rot your brain (Playing stuff are generally a helpful thing for humans either video games or child plays or a card game) but the screen you look at will. Pc screens have a lot of blue light and that cause a lot of inflamation on eyes and in brain. So either turn your screen's blue light filter at night or dont use it at all after sun sets.
@deltaeins1580 The commenter should have been more clear. Screens themselves do not cause brain rot, but if sufficient, the level of blue light can contribute to insomnia, which given enough time, can cause cognitive impairment or decline.
@@丫o I made clear that pc screens have a lot of blue light and that was the one that causing issues although yeah I should have also added lowering melatonin but it can also cause direct inflamation not just indirect inflamation through sleep issues.
Hank's title in the credits at the end of the video needs to be changed. "Socks Salesman" - hah! Go Savannah! I'm glad they're feeling better in this video.
Don't tell me that dozing your brain with loads and loads of dopamine is good for it. In the grand scheme of things, it's along the lines of doom scrolling: cheap hormone that you need to recover from later by deprivating yourself of these things. Which is very not pheasant, and which people just choose to not do. They don't even know they have to. Some people are not that excited by gambling, for example. It doesn't mean it's good for you. It's not that you can't find positives in games, it's that some people lose families and inner good qualities over an addiction -- to the processes that are _designed_ to hijack your dopamine and abuse it as much as possible. So, as a gamer and someone working for good, rather ethical games: no. No, it's not good. Not the rainbow rgb/lootboxes/skinner box/endless achievements kinda stuff. We're not talking Pacman anymore in this landscape.
Is it that people that play certain video games have more grey matter? Or is it that the people that have more grey matter play those certain video games?
Describing Hank Greene as a socks salesman is such a funny, limited and specific descriptor 😂
right? guess they forgot about the coffeebeans
Came here to make this comment. Left remembering to be awesome. Don't forget to be awesome, fellow nerds ❤
That description had me rolling!
@@tyshalley6130 same!! 😂
I thought Hank was a standup cancer comic who now has curly hair, loves D&D, and especially his family.
A big thing for video games with growing children is that they tend to help with understanding spatial tasks, much more than those who didn't have the same experiences when growing up. It totally makes sense if you think about how a lot of a video game's progress is understanding where you are and where things are. (Journal source: The cognitive effects of playing video games with a navigational component.)
yes and thats why minimaps are bad. they reduce that navigation learning
I've heard that surgeons who played video games as teenagers were better at laparoscopic procedures. They already had hundreds of hours of experience matching what happens on a screen with what they do with their hands.
My mum was told when I was little to get me to play video games to aid in my eye tracking. I think it was quite effective.
@@helenbaumander3953 That's actually really cool.
Did you just cite a source in a comment section?
Kudos to you
We really need to start explicitly teaching the difference between generalities and generalizations. Something can be true on a population level without necessarily being true for any individual person you point at on the street.
Also, yes, please do get into the problems with IQ testing (and the problems with trying to define "intelligence" in the first place in order to test it at all).
Uh... can you explain the difference? Because I thought the problem was just the misapplication of generalities, which I thought was a synonym for generalizations.
@@joshyoung1440 Generalities are just trends-patterns seen across a population, like averages, that help us understand the big picture without boxing anyone in. Generalizations, though? They’re those blanket statements we throw over everyone, ignoring individual uniqueness. People aren’t cookie-cutter copies, and using generalizations as if they’re absolute truth? That’s how you end up with misunderstandings, stereotypes
Also IQ is very inaccurate because it's based entirely in neurotypical brain activity which is a poor way to represent the total nature of psychological behaviour. It's more important to measure functions and how energy is distributed by the brain so we understand better how it works
I only sat through a little segment of the video. I can't take that lack of critical thinking. The 5th myth is in depth explicitly explained to NOT be a myth by the presenter themselves. It goes on developing. Thanks, then it's not a myth then -- it's a misguided "and thus so and so" that comes from it. The fact itself, while calling it "a myth", you reiterate and confirm to be the truth.
I wholehearted agree and we also need to teach people to understand logic and be able to recognize fallacies.
Socks sales man... never has a persons job been more adequately discribed. Greetings from Germany, sitting here in a beautiful pair of socks from said Socks sales man.
"It's arguably the most important organ in your body"
That's what a brain would say. You're lucky that the other organs can't speak for themselves.
Underappreciated point in the video. Hades is an incredible game and the sound track slaps. A must play if you're into Greek mythology too.
Our brain is making up so much stuff about how itself works.
No there brain is making up stuff about my brain my.. brain doesn't care what they say... it's too busy to care...
It's the only part of the body that technically named itself.
It also often corrects itself when it learns that it was wrong. Weird.
I’m my brain, I confirm……
And I hate it. I hate that it's so smart yet so dumb at the same time
I've started a psychology degree. This video was essentially my first week. I'm not joking.
Better swap if you want to get a job after you graduate
@rundown132 nah I'm good thanks.
I teach Highschool psych, and you are correct. I go over a lot of this for the first few classes of the semester.
From personal experience, my self control and inhibition seemed to not be fully developed until my mid to late 20s. This suggests to me that my prefrontal cortex was still developing and strengthening its connections up to around that age range. Correlation isn't causation and all that, but I find it interesting and worth noting.
While it seems to make sense, this kind of reasoning is sadly what causes myths to develop. It's anecdotal (n=1, only you) and the jump from self control and inhibition to prefrontal cortex development is unfounded.
@@jekentmenietje I mention it from the perspective of "More testing needed."
Keep in mind that the prefrontal cortex is really only part of the picture- yes it handles decision making but hormones (in the general sense, as well as the stereotypical teenage definition) play a huge part in the moment as well. What's going on in your life and how you're feeling arguably is much more relevant to a decision than a few less neuron connections.
Personality is always evolving. I find I have more anxiety in my 50's than I did when I was younger. I certainly am not the same person I was earlier in life. Of course, my T levels are dropping, and that may have had some effects on my brain. And of course drug use can damage the brain as well (not that I use drugs).
"You have a fully functional organ up there." My everyday experience says that many people do not have a fully functioning organ up there.
Or maybe it's more accurate to say not fully utilized. It's there, they just don't use it.
My everyday experience is that many people who make the same assertion as you fall into the category made by their very own assertion.
@丫o You speak of the Dunning Kruger effect. Personally, I tend to underestimate my own abilities, partly because I know of the effect, and partly because I do have a fair amount of knowledge, allowing me to know my limitations.
@@丫o no u
My reading of your comment tells me you're judgmental and not super self-aware.
First Kurzgesagt, now SciShow. Science youtuber's fact checking teams have been cooking!
I just wish they'd get the 'you only use 10% of your brain' argument correct. They focus on the specific term 'use', when the intended term in the original question is 'utilize'. They do this because they know that they cannot treat the word utilize like the word use. It's a gotcha used to sweep the intention under the rug. You cannot actively utilize every part of your brain. Would it give you superpowers like in Lucy? No. But it would give you access to information that we are completely blind to within our own bodies. Dozens of things are going on in it bodies every second that our brain knows about but we don't have an active understanding of. The thought terminating way they dismiss this train of thought is harmful to our understanding the brain.
@@scifywriter9768 You need to lay off the sauce, buddy.
@@phodon129hes not wrong
@Earth-To-Zan hes not right tho
I think Kurzgesagt is wolf is sheep’s clothing
Forget Mario, let's see a Factorio player's brain scan when they say, *"The Factory Must Grow!"*
beansbeansbeansbeansbeansbeansbeansbeansbeansbeans
Factorio mentioned
The Factory must grow
I have like 500 hours in Factorio. I just got the new DLC too! I’m pretty excited. I wonder if resource management games and city builders count as strategy games? Really she only mentioned like a handful of games. Also, as a Tomb Raider enjoyer, I feel like some RPG games are a different medium to enjoy a good story - not unlike a book.
Lol, I just watched this video while playing Factorio.
With zero actual scientific rigor, a friend in High School re-ran the Mozart experiment and found that the class did the best on the math test when they listened to The Beastie Boys.
The other problem with the "brain development peaks at 25" is that development never stops. Only a very narrow definition of development actually works here, when in reality other functions continue to improve, forever, until you either die or a cognitive illness sets you back.
Cognitive function definitely does not continue to improve past 30-35
@@alexrogers777 what is "Cognitive function"?
by "when in reality other functions continue to improve, forever" he probably meant that one optimises their most frequent tasks.
"cognitive illness" is a daily flux, making the "continue to improve, forever" a useless spec of logic.
@@alexrogers777 Speaking as a guy in his 40s, I take strong issue with that "past 30-35" remark. Sounds rather ageist from where I'm sitting, still learning and developing skills as I near the twilight years of my life.
Unless you've got actual dementia, that's a crock.
The brain development part has been a topic of interest for me in the past. Yes, it's true the brain keeps developing, but it does largely slow down in late twenties/early thirties. I still think it's ok to say the brain is "mature" at that point. I don't think mature has to imply the brain is finished.
1. Frontal Lobe (prefrontal cortex) Development -- parts of the frontal lobe indeed take until late twenties to early thirties to fully form.
2. Myelination -- But that's not all, there's also a pruning process where the brain gets rid of unnecessary stuff and then "myelinates" the leftovers. This process makes the brain more efficient and 'work" better. This process prepares the brain and nervous system for the rest of life and is probably the better indicator of a fully mature brain
Me personally, I don't know if it's bad, but I feel like I'm still a teenager even though that I'm in my late twenties. Yes, my skills have improved, I have a better physique, and I have more money, but my thought process and personality feels largely the same. I could still pick up off the same chapter of a book I started 10 years ago and remember every detail -- it feels like no time has passed. I'm just a superior version of who I was as a teenager. I always assumed there would be a day where I start feeling like an adult, but I don't feel any different even after all the new responsibilities like taxes, mortgage, etc.
@@EhurtAfy But even your "mature" is an arbitrary point chosen for when reaction times peak and decision-making ability gain slows from the rapid improvements of adolescence. It's an inflection point, sure, but it's not the end of maturation of every measure we have. We could also say a brain is "mature" when the sum total of network connections, sometimes called "organization" peaks, which is generally sometime in middle age. This correlates, broadly, with the decision-making capability in situations with a lot of complexity, and also may explain part of the "crystalline knowledge" other researchers have referred to.
There's a lot of ways to measure brain functions, and not all of them peak in your 20s.
"The brain is the most important part of your body."
The anus: "Hold my beer."
Anus: hold my beer
mouth: no, you
_Inner ear has entered the chat_
the anus is the funnest way to take alcohol
Would explain why the boss is an ahole.
The bladder: But, sir I can't comply with your request! The hull has been breached!!!
The problem society has is not "letting their brain fully develop" it is setting expectations early on in life. Children acting the way they do is a mental process rather than a growing old one.
Exactly. We don’t trust teenagers to make decisions yet make them choose colleges right out of high school.
When my son was only a few months old, we played pop music while he was in his wing. Every time a particular artist played, he'd freak out as happy as he could be.
The descriptions of Hank and John are... *chef's kiss*. Thumbs up for that alone
My high school Senior Project long ago in the pre-pandemic times was centered around the mental benefits of gaming, I'm glad you guys are covering it!
9:03 I'm curious if that study followed up on reaction time sensitive genres (FPS, fighting games, eSports, etc.)
There's recently been some esports IQ testing done. I don't remember exact numbers, but League of Legends players scored the highest average IQ around 120, while lowest IQ was FIFA players around 85.
Also I don't know how legit that testing was... either way it was funny ti watch people spam commets like "not Senna players" or "they excluded Yuumi players" and so on.
The differential associations of different game types are almost certainly selection effects rather than causal. Would need a tonne of evidence to suggest the latter over the former.
Hades mentioned!! The soundtrack is so good!
Hell yeah (pun intended), I also love leaving the Hades soundtrack in the background while multitasking
Speaking as a musicologist, one issue there's always been with the Mozart brain tests - and most similar tests about music - is controlling for cultural factors. Is there something innate to Mozart that makes you do better, or is that you're doing something that you associate with things that "smart" or "cultured" people like? Something that is framed as "intellectual" (per cultural stories about Mozart's genius)? Would someone who doesn't have that association have the same benefit? One of the reasons it's important for the humanities and sciences to talk to each other in terms of our research is so that scientists make sure to factor in cultural factors that are far from universal. Lots of cultures and people have different cultural associations with different kinds of music, and those have changed over time. That's another reason why you can't extrapolate something tested on college students (who have certain expectations of classical music from years growing up in a particular society) to babies (who don't). Or even fetuses, because I've heard stories of people putting headphones up to their pregnant bellies...
What about strategy games?! Us Civ stans need to know...
I would take the headlines regarding games and their effects on the brain ALL with a pound of salt, as I think there is a bias in ALL the studies when it comes to their effects on development, skills. brain growth etc. Each game is likely to be unique in how it affects these features and you can't assume that all even in a specific category using a specific controller operate the same way in how the brain treats them.
Supergiant has always had excellent music in their games. The Hades soundtrack is awesome. Can't wait for Hades 2. Fun to see another video game music fan. (edit: grammar)
Fantastic, absolutely amazing. Well done and thank you for making this.
goated, the Hades ost is magnificent
I never understood the whole only using 10% of your brain thing. How does that even make sense? How would any creature survive with a brain that uses all those resources, but most of it doesn't function? It just doesn't make sense.
Well, less than 10% of the brain's neurons are actively firing at any given time, so it's technically true.
@Alex-js5lg no, it isn't, as that isn't true. The vast majority of your brain is active at any giving time. Yes, on occasion, some parts aren't active, but it never goes under like 75%. Even when you are asleep. Even in a coma it doesn't drop below 50%.
@@zogar8526 source? 75% sounds like having a seizure. do you think of all your memories simultaneously at all times while moving all parts of your body and processing all math equations and philosophical questions and sensory inputs?
@yuriserigne5524 you don't understand how your brain works at all do you? It is literally going at all times. That doesn't mean every memory is firing up, nor that all your muscles need to move. Every part of your brain does multiple things and is processing information and co trolling your body at all times. Seriously, how are people this ignornat?
@@yuriserigne5524 everyone forgets about the central nervous system and autonomic nervous system, yknow, the thing that makes you breath without consciously having to think about it? different parts of your brain will fire at different times it doesn’t all fire at the same time like a lightbulb.
I enjoy Savannah , she is a great host. I enjoy her sarcasm and the way she presents. I hope she stays for a long time 😊
Savannah goes by they/them, just a heads up!
I love you gave this video to present by gamer, this was really fun :) Also as one of many many boomers that learned English second language pretty much from playing RPG games, I beg to differ RPG games are worse for your brain than Mario!
The bit about language you mention in myth #1 is actually really interesting when you delve into it. I did some modules on language acquisition and development as part of my Linguistics degree, and some of the science behind it is truly fascinating. In typical humans, there are multiple sections of the brain associated with different aspects of language processes (such as retaining word meanings, converting sounds into words to look up, applying grammar to the concepts we want to express etc.). These are typically always in the same place, suggesting there is something about human development that inherently places them in the same areas of the brain in each of us. However, if one of those areas of the brain becomes damaged early enough in childhood development, other parts of the brain **can** take over that functionality. Unfortunately, that is not possible past a certain point in development, which is how sadly adults can be left with conditions such as aphasia for the rest of their lives.
You should do a video on traumatic brain injuries & permanent personally changes due to injury.
It sucks living life mourning your old self and wish more people understood TBIs.
*I never EVER wanna hear a movie or TV series character claim that “we only use 10% of our brains” to justify the lazy writing of a some show runner for a character becoming superior to others via some miracle drug or whatnot! Give it a rest already, Hollywood!*
100% with you on the video game soundtracks. I have so many. If you like the Hades OST, maybe try Bastion.
Glad they went with the limitless reference as opposed to lucy
2:47 Pentel GraphGear 500; I used to own one of those in 0.7mm and another in 0.5mm. Good pencil.
Oh, and the video was fascinating, of course.
The moment you mentioned Wilder Penfield all I could think of was "Dr. Penfield, I smell burnt toast!" which I think just means I'm Canadian.
I'm an over active Epileptic. This is Great lol 😂
I tend to consider grand strategy and turn-based strategy as 'puzzle' games.
Using the pieces given to accomplish a task... even if the task is *generally* some sort of murder. >,>
Thank you 🙏🏼
Great topic. Thanks. 🙂
"You have a fully functioning organ up there." No I don't!
(had a fever in my brain a couple of years ago and now I have a lot of trouble remembering words/names I don't use often)
As an action RPG lover, I find this to be devastating
Hades' ost is incredible.
I can always tell when people don't play video games. They have much poorer fine motor skills, they are often much slower readers, they have less spatial awareness, get lost more easily, are not good at piecing together seemingly unrelated bits of information, do not tend to be concerned with efficiency of their tasks (such as path routes, time for each step when processing materials, or how much effort is being used to produce something vs another method), do not calculate expected rates or how long something is projected to take without being prompted, and so much more.
Video games can teach you a lot, especially if you play the good ones. Mindless games like COD or FIFA get seen as "the" games. Great puzzle games, exploration games, open world games, mystery games, construction games, and adventure games teach kids about a wide variety of subjects while also teaching skills like "Go ask around if you need information" or "Look at what is there" or "how can I get to this place" or "What do I need to bring with me for this type of trip?"
Sure, they're still fantasy and not practical experience, but as a starting point and an introduction to the topic, they are invaluable. Especially since kids are INTERESTED in them and wanting to learn more, instead of being sat down and being bored and not paying attention. Kids are more interested in learning math when it helps them do better in their games than when they are doing homework problems. They are more interested in studying about habitats and species when it gives them hints as to what resources they can find in their game and where.
I highly recommend Mario Cart
My boys gave me a switch for my 50th birthday. Mario Cart was my favorite from back in the Wii days. Playing it again has had remarkable impact on my real world driving. Really can't recommend it enough for older folks like me
Okay, I have to say peeing your pants while riding a zip line in your friends back yard at 12 is oddly specific.
_Sing,_
_Of Savannah, oh muse_
_Slayer of misinformation_
_First of their name_
Knowest thou notte, foolish knave, of the might and wondre of Lordes Hankivus et Johnicum Green? Prithee edit thy poem to properly reflecte the majesties of Up and Atom, and thou wouldst do welle to include Physics Girl inn additionne. Thou hast mine thancks!
The fact that some states want to make laws based around the 25 year old brain thing is yikes.
Lots of people are using it as a way to control women. It’s the same weirdos making age-gap relationships out to be weird. They are the worst human beings.
I still don’t trust teenagers to make life changing decisions.
@Wolfie54545 someone who is 18-24 should be able to make decisions about their own bodies. Also minors who have parental consent shouldn't be blocked from getting life saving healthcare that is recommended by health professionals.
@@Wolfie54545 Same but that's more to do with hormone changes rather than brain development.
I used my brain and looked it up- UA-cam will not let me share the link, but if you look up brain development on the National Institute of Health (NIH), or Medicine (NIM), or Mental Health (NIMH) you get a ton of research stating this same sentiment "Adolescence is an important time for brain development. Although the brain stops growing in size by early adolescence, the teen years are all about fine-tuning how the brain works. The brain finishes developing and maturing in the mid-to-late 20s. The part of the brain behind the forehead, called the prefrontal cortex, is one of the last parts to mature. This area is responsible for skills like planning, prioritizing, and making good decisions." Which is where the "myth" comes from. Not sure it's a myth if thousands of studys agree.
I throw right, bat right, kick right. I skateboard regular, snowboard goofy, shoot bow and rifle left. Nothing that was hypothesized in the 1940’s agrees.
I've played League of Legends rankeds for last 10 years, my brain feels extremly large after watching this video.
hades ost mentioned🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
4:49 dang I was hoping she would say “beans, the whole thing is beans”
I don't think anyone suggested that teens aren't making decisions - just those decisions are pretty bad a lot of the time. Ie TikTok challenges ..... etc...
It’s worth noting that the quality of their decisions is, among other factors, a product of the amount of information they’ve been given, the quality of that information, and whether or not they were given quality instruction on how to adequately process it all.
Add to that their limited experience in the results of using that information, and you’ve got a lot of young humans just poking at things trying to figure out how it all works. It would make some sense that they screw up a lot, just as we all did at their age.
"If the brain were so simple that we could understand it, we'd be so simple we couldn't"
Psst Canadians!
Dr. Penfield I smell burnt toast!
YES! I came to the comment section for this, and I've not been disappointed! Was this a running joke in your elementary school too?
@SoupEaterExtraordinaire Yup, everywhere really 😁
I played metal for my babies and one of them ended up a genius. The other might have a learning disability. But they both love metal so thats a win
Say it louder for the people in the back "young people are people too" 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
It’s a video, everyone who is listening is doing so at whatever sound level they choose.
@@丫o obviously, did you think I was being literal?
❤️🔥
no they aren't.
Yes they are but we cannot ignore that teenagers really shouldn’t be making life changing permanent decisions.
On that last myth, pure mass of grey matter isn't always a positive too, an important thing the brain does is culling unnecessary connections, saving that space and energy for more important and commonly used things.
Are we talking the first game's soundtrack? Because that God of the Dead theme for Hades himself slaps
Thank you!
9:20 Kingdom Hearts has actual puzzles in it though. (besides the entire story) Also, hello fellow Kingdom Hearts fan.
The way I've always explained the "10% brain thing" is if you used 100% of your brain its just like turning on every switch on a machine. You don't want every switch on.
Limitless shout out! 🎉
Where does candy crush fall in there (#4)?
Playing Fallout might shrink my brain UNLESS I increase my INT stats...
Modern problems require modern solutions.
If someone tells me to play Mario instead of Fallout because "logic, puzzle, or platform" vs "RPG, or action", hasn't played Fallout on survival where you have to use logic, reasoning skills, risk vs. reward, etc. I would also point out that on the one hand you have the host questioning results when they're derived from a single study, but only sites one study concerning what types of video games are better for your brain. Hmm.
@@matthewbarry4464 I feel super smart when I lockpick things!
What will my Metroidvanias do to my brains?
(For the uninitiated - Metroidvanias are action platformer puzzle RPG games, which is both sides of the grey matter correlation)
Video game soundtracks are great!
Maybe I should give my mum the Nintendo back to keep her brain active in her old age, she used to love those puzzle and mario games
It's also worth noting that neurological traits only matter insofar as they're known to influence psychological traits (i.e., how you actually think/behave), and regarding development, that causal link does indeed stop being significant around 12-14, not 25 or even 21.
Quoting David Moshman's (Professor Emeritus of Educational Psychology at UNL) "Adolescent Rationality and Development: Cognition, Morality, and Identity, Third Edition":
"Developmental changes beyond age 12 to 14 are much too stable and individualized, it appears to me, for a developmental panel, even if it included brain experts, to succeed in distinguishing age groups on the basis of their age development. Second, there is the reductionist fallacy. Brain data seem more scientific than behavioral data, but they are not, nor do they provide us with ultimate explanations, even if psychology can in principle be reduced to biology, a dubious proposition, we are a very long way from achieving such a reduction."
For those familiar with the exercise physiology world, it's a similar situation as assuming higher activity in EMG readings necessarily equals higher hypertrophy, which isn't necessarily the case. People *really* need to understand the limitations of their proxy variables!
I use calm VGM when studying because it’s nice and doesn’t have some dude screaming over my own voice in my brain that is trying to read.
I love it when Savannah hosts. They rock!
Did she say the Hades soundtrack!?! YES - it's sooo good. If you haven't, definitely check out he Transistor ost :D
Calling your boss and his brother a sock salesman and a 4th tier soccer fan is crazy.
Soccer fan John Green and sock salesman Hank Green! :D :D
"You've already got 80% of your total brain size by age 3". 80% sounds sufficient. No wonder 3yearolds are amazing at making life decisions.
I remember telling my dad that the human male's brain didn't fully mature until the age of 25 years. He said, "Huh, that's why men's car insurance rates drop then."
Technically, your brain doesn't stop developing until death. Especially if you keep learning and engaging in new experiences.
Hades sound track is so good
Did they consider the grey matter gained by learning how to play videogames? Because a role playing game can still be one giant puzzle if you've never played before.
That's all I need to know, goes back to playing video games.
Always double, triple check everything you see and hear. Even on this program. Still appreciate what I am told and learn here.
Super Mario 64 is referring to open world games In general right? Like ocarina of time? Dam Im obsessed with Nintendo games
Great video over all. I do want to push back on one statement in the video regarding "action" video games vs other types of video games.
There have been plenty of studies suggesting that action video game play improves attentional control (especially executive attention used for decision making). Furthermore, there evidence of improved spatial abilities and perceptual processing speed. So, in essence Fallout is just as good for your brain despite people's concerns to the contrary.
Not everyone agrees with these findings, and other factors may matter, but plenty of studies have supported those findings.
Here is an open access example from nature: Action video game play facilitates “learning to learn”
If challenging videogames make us smarter, what about sports? And other tactical activities ? Are they better than videogames or worse
I mean, look at the pro sports players ... they are not exactly known for their intelligence. Now look at pro video game players ... they're often nerds in top colleges. Whether this is a result of those activities or self-selection bias ... I think it's more the latter than the former but both are probably contributing factors.
LOL @ Sock salesman. That's almost British levels of dry-downplaying humour.
Seems to me a LOT of these myths are excuses to extol one kid over another, or excuses to limit your kid from independent thinking. Gotta keep that control, don't we folks...?
The video games one made me grin the most though. I'm definitely a gamer and I enjoy puzzle games the most, which sometimes makes for interesting yet awkward pauses in conversations with friends.
"...what do you mean you didn't play that game? Oh right, I'm the only one who knows that series"
A phrase uttered on both sides of the table, bc I don't care for action and fighting games (Fallout, CSGO, Tekken etc)...but my friends aren't fans of, oh say, Mystery Case Files. We DO share some games in common, don't get me wrong! But an MMO is far different and encompasses MANY play styles at various points, that's even one of the genre's biggest strengths.
Fallout's fine if you go after the lore snippets and play the minigames
9:30 ... I wonder if games like "Cities: Skylines" ... or "Farming Simulator" or other simulator games, help grey matter. I've only spent 1500 hours on the original Cities: Skylines, and 500 on Cities: Skylines 2...
Video games wont rot your brain (Playing stuff are generally a helpful thing for humans either video games or child plays or a card game) but the screen you look at will. Pc screens have a lot of blue light and that cause a lot of inflamation on eyes and in brain. So either turn your screen's blue light filter at night or dont use it at all after sun sets.
Is that not a myth too?
@deltaeins1580 The commenter should have been more clear. Screens themselves do not cause brain rot, but if sufficient, the level of blue light can contribute to insomnia, which given enough time, can cause cognitive impairment or decline.
@@deltaeins1580 No it is not there are multiple articles about it
@@丫o I made clear that pc screens have a lot of blue light and that was the one that causing issues although yeah I should have also added lowering melatonin but it can also cause direct inflamation not just indirect inflamation through sleep issues.
wont
"Are you left brained or right brained?"
yeah
What about souls games? They are not a walk in the park. Lol or what about GoW? They have some puzzles.
I swear my mum had that striped top in the 80's-90's.
Hank's title in the credits at the end of the video needs to be changed. "Socks Salesman" - hah! Go Savannah! I'm glad they're feeling better in this video.
"The next time... Use yours....." 😅
me literally playing Hades II while watching this
Don't tell me that dozing your brain with loads and loads of dopamine is good for it. In the grand scheme of things, it's along the lines of doom scrolling: cheap hormone that you need to recover from later by deprivating yourself of these things. Which is very not pheasant, and which people just choose to not do. They don't even know they have to.
Some people are not that excited by gambling, for example. It doesn't mean it's good for you. It's not that you can't find positives in games, it's that some people lose families and inner good qualities over an addiction -- to the processes that are _designed_ to hijack your dopamine and abuse it as much as possible.
So, as a gamer and someone working for good, rather ethical games: no. No, it's not good. Not the rainbow rgb/lootboxes/skinner box/endless achievements kinda stuff. We're not talking Pacman anymore in this landscape.
My parents: All those video games rot your brain!
Me getting an IQ test result of 138 at 16 years old: ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?
If you're believing internet IQ tests, yeah, I'd say your brain is pretty well rotted.
i know at least video games greatly enhanced my 3d perception
Stephen King audio books makes you smarter. Yet another reason for my spouse to be smarter than I.
Is it that people that play certain video games have more grey matter? Or is it that the people that have more grey matter play those certain video games?