Brain structure predicts ability to learn video games

MIT - MIT CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Researchers can predict your performance on a video game simply by measuring the volume of specific structures in your brain, a multi-institutional team reports this week. The new study, in the journal Cerebral Cortex , found that nearly a quarter of the variability in achievement seen among men and women trained on a new video game could be predicted by measuring the volume of parts of the striatum, a collection of brain structures tucked deep inside the cerebral cortex. The study adds to the evidence that the striatum profoundly influences a person’s ability to refine his or her motor skills, learn new procedures, develop useful strategies, and adapt to a quickly changing environment. “This is the first time that we’ve been able to take a real-world task like a video game and show that the size of specific brain regions is predictive of performance and learning rates,” said Kirk Erickson, a professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and lead author on the study. Ann Graybiel, an Institute Professor at MIT and an Investigator at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research; and Arthur Kramer, a professor of psychology at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois, were co-principal investigators on the study. Walter Boot, of Florida State University also contributed to the research.