Have you ever wondered if playing video games could sharpen your reflexes and improve your coordination?
The answer may surprise you. Research has found that people who play action video games like Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed are better at learning hand-eye coordination tasks compared to those who don’t game regularly.
Yes, you read that right—playing video games might actually make you better at activities that require you to sync your vision with your motor skills.
This might sound unbelievable, but there’s science to back it up.
Sensorimotor skills, which involve tasks like playing the piano, riding a bike, or even typing on a keyboard, are all about hand-eye coordination.
So, what happens when video games enter the equation?
Research suggests that players can learn these skills faster, improving both their ability to perform complex tasks and their learning efficiency.
For example, a group of researchers from the University of Toronto, led by Davood Gozli, found that gamers were able to learn sensorimotor tasks more efficiently than non-gamers. But what’s the secret behind this?
How does gaming actually enhance our brain’s ability to control vision and movement simultaneously?
The Experiment: Gamers vs. Non-Gamers
To understand how gaming affects sensorimotor control, the team at the University of Toronto designed an experiment where two groups—gamers and non-gamers—were asked to complete a task on a computer.
The task involved tracking a moving dot on the screen, requiring participants to coordinate their hand movements with what they saw.
Interestingly, both groups started off performing at roughly the same level.
But as the experiment went on, the gamers quickly began to outperform the non-gamers.
This indicates that gamers, who are used to fast-paced, action-packed games requiring constant visual-motor coordination, are able to adapt and improve their sensorimotor control faster than non-gamers.
This initial finding suggests that gamers have an edge when it comes to learning repetitive, structured patterns of movement. It turns out that gaming trains our brains to improve hand-eye coordination to the point where it’s almost second nature.
The Pattern Interrupt: Are Gamers Born with Better Coordination, or Do They Learn Faster?
Here’s the twist—what if gamers are just naturally better at these tasks?
Could their advantage in sensorimotor coordination simply be because they already have better control over their motor skills from the start?
To explore this, the researchers conducted a follow-up experiment to test whether gamers were better at learning new sensorimotor patterns, or if they simply had better innate abilities.
In this second experiment, the task changed every time, so participants couldn’t rely on repeating the same pattern.
Instead, they had to learn a brand new, unpredictable pattern each time they tracked the dot. Surprisingly, both gamers and non-gamers performed equally poorly in this scenario—no one showed significant improvement.
This result completely debunked the idea that gamers were better at sensorimotor tasks because of innate ability.
Instead, it showed that gamers excel in learning repetitive sensorimotor tasks more efficiently.
Their gaming experience, which involves quick reflexes and fast decision-making, makes them more adept at recognizing and adapting to these repeated tasks, even when they’re in a new context.
So, rather than being naturally better at controlling motor functions, gamers are simply better at learning patterns.
They are quicker to pick up on repetitive motor tasks because their brains have been trained to do so through constant gaming.
The Real-World Impact: How This Knowledge Can Change Our Everyday Lives
You might be wondering, “How does this benefit me in my daily life?”
The ability to learn sensorimotor skills efficiently isn’t just a nifty party trick—it’s a crucial part of many real-world tasks that require precision.
Imagine performing delicate tasks like surgery, driving, or typing—all of which demand perfect coordination between vision and movement.
This kind of hand-eye coordination is not only critical in everyday activities but in high-stakes careers, especially where precision and quick decision-making are essential.
For example, surgeons, who must make precise, controlled movements in life-or-death situations, could potentially benefit from the enhanced coordination that gamers develop.
If gaming helps improve the brain’s ability to learn new motor skills quickly, this could translate to better outcomes in careers that require fine motor control.
And let’s not forget about driving—a task that relies heavily on hand-eye coordination.
Gamers who are used to steering, aiming, and reacting quickly in games might actually be better at handling complex driving situations in real life.
While it’s not a substitute for actual driving practice, it could give gamers a small edge when it comes to their ability to react in high-pressure situations.
Why Does Gaming Improve Hand-Eye Coordination?
So, why does gaming seem to give people an edge when it comes to these skills?
The answer lies in how action-packed video games engage our sensorimotor system.
When you’re playing a game like Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed, you are constantly moving your character, aiming, and reacting to the environment in real-time.
This requires a complex blend of quick thinking, precise hand movements, and immediate visual feedback—all of which are crucial components of sensorimotor control.
Over time, these constant, fast-paced tasks train the brain to better link visual stimuli with motor actions.
The brain learns to process this information more efficiently, improving reaction times and precision.
This constant practice in video games makes the brain more adaptable to learning new tasks that require hand-eye coordination, even in non-gaming situations.
Essentially, gamers’ brains become highly tuned to these types of activities, meaning they can learn repetitive, patterned tasks more efficiently.
This doesn’t mean non-gamers can’t learn hand-eye coordination—it just means gamers are better at it, and faster.
Could Video Games Be the Future of Training?
Given these findings, could video games become a legitimate tool for training hand-eye coordination and improving performance in real-world activities?
It’s possible. In fact, some researchers are already exploring the use of action video games in rehabilitation and training for high-skill professions.
Imagine using a game to help surgeons hone their skills or drivers improve their reflexes.
While video games can’t replace traditional training, they could provide an additional, fun, and effective way to improve sensorimotor skills.
If gaming can train the brain to be better at learning repetitive patterns and coordinating vision with movement, it may offer an untapped resource for improving performance across various domains.
Furthermore, the positive impact on cognitive flexibility—the ability to adapt to new and unexpected situations—could be useful in fields such as air traffic control, aviation, or military training, where quick decisions and precise movements are necessary.
The Takeaway: Video Games May Be More Beneficial Than You Think
So, while there’s no doubt that video games can be addictive, this research highlights an unexpected benefit—they can actually improve hand-eye coordination and learning efficiency.
Gamers aren’t just skilled at navigating virtual worlds—they have a real-world advantage when it comes to quickly learning new, repetitive sensorimotor tasks.
As more studies explore the links between gaming and cognitive skills, it’s becoming clearer that playing video games could offer tangible benefits, especially in fields that require precision and quick thinking.
So, the next time someone tells you to put down the controller, maybe you can remind them that gaming isn’t just fun—it might be making you smarter and more skilled in real life.
This research, published in Human Movement Science, is just the beginning of understanding how our digital experiences can shape our abilities in the physical world.
Gaming might not only be an escape from reality—it could be making us better at it.
