Action video games lower the risk of developing language disorders such as dyslexia in children: this is demonstrated by a study published in the journal NPJ Science of Learning and led by the University of Bergamo and the University of Padua, in collaboration with the University of Pavia, the Eugenio Medea Scientific Institute of Lecco, the Sigmund Freud University of Milan and the Territorial Social Health Authority of Valle Olona (Varese).
The research obtained positive results on 120 Italian children in their last year of kindergarten, who resolved their disorders with just 20 play sessions.
The data collected are also fundamental from the perspective of future programs for the prevention of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as learning, language, motor coordination and autism spectrum disorders, which are extremely common in contemporary society.
The main cause of dyslexia, a specific reading disorder, is the difficulty in perceiving speech sounds, called phonemes.
Several studies have shown that children with this disorder show improvements thanks to video games, which can stimulate attention.
“From these premises we hypothesized that action video games could also improve the perception of phonemes,” explains Sara Bertoni of the University of Bergamo, first author of the research coordinated by Andrea Facoetti of the University of Padua.
“Our study demonstrates that with just 20 45-minute gaming sessions with a video game, disturbances in the perception of phonemes are specifically eliminated.”
The progress thus obtained was more than double that achieved with traditional linguistic treatments and remains even after six months.
“These results revolutionize the current shared knowledge on dyslexia as a pure linguistic deficit of the left hemisphere”, comments Facoetti, “suggesting a role also for the automatic control of attention of the right hemisphere”.
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