According to a new study, playing video games helps doctors enhance their surgical skills. The study claimed that doctors who played Nintendo Wii an hour a day for five days in a month performed laparoscopic surgeries much better than those who did not play.
The study was published in PLOS journal and conducted by the researchers from La Sapienza University of Rome in Italy. According to the study's author, playing video games sharpens cognitive skills. The video games given to the doctors stressed hand and eye coordination that certainly improved their surgical performance, according to resreachers.
A spokesperson for Nintendo told NPR that they were thrilled to hear that their video games are helping medical science.
Researchers at the Sapienza University in Rome revealed that surgeons who played the video games outperformed those surgeons who did not play it. The study was conducted on 42 post-graduate residents. Half the participants were asked to play video games for one hour per day for five days a week for a month.
Wii games of tennis, table tennis and battle at high altitude were given to play as these games require hand and eye coordination. After the study, surgeries performed by doctors were significantly better than those who did not play video games.