Video games are not the mind-melting devil creations that your parents made them out to be.

电子游戏并不是你父母口中有害心智的恶魔。

Not only can gaming be a whole lot of fun, but recent research has revealed there's also a range of scientific benefits to playing videogames.

打游戏不仅能带来乐趣，最近的研究还显示电子游戏有一系列益处。

Here are six of the best benefits:

这里列举出玩游戏的六大益处：

1. 3D video games could increase memory capacity

1. 3D电子游戏可提升记忆容量

In a 2015 study in The Journal of Neuroscience, researchers from the University of California, Irvine recruited 69 participants, and asked a third to play Super Mario 3D World for two weeks, a third to play Angry Birds, and the rest to play nothing.

《神经科学》杂志2015年刊登过一项研究，加州大学欧文分校的研究人员招募了69名志愿者，要求其中三分之一的人用两周时间玩“超级马里奥3D世界”、三分之一玩“愤怒的小鸟”、剩下三分之一什么也不玩。

The people who played Mario ended up doing better on follow-up memory tasks, while the others showed no improvement pre- and post-gaming.

结果发现，第一组志愿者在后续的记忆任务中表现更佳，而其他两组在游戏前后的表现并不存在显著差异。

"Video gamers who specifically favour complex 3D video games performed better," the researchers concluded.

研究人员总结道：“特别喜欢复杂3D游戏的玩家表现得更好。”

2. Gaming could be good for pain relief

2. 游戏有助于缓解疼痛

This one is the best excuse for playing video games on your next sick day – a 2012 literature review published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that in the 38 studies examined, video games improved the health outcomes of 195 patients on every front, including psychological and physical therapy.

下次生病想打游戏的时候就可以用这个理由——2012年，《美国预防医学》杂志的一篇文献综述写道，从38项研究中可以看出，电子游戏从各个方面提升了195名患者的身心健康程度。

Plus, in 2010, scientists presented research at the American Pain Society's conference, which found evidence that playing video games, especially virtual reality games, are effective at reducing anxiety or pain caused by chronic illness or medical procedures.

此外，2010年，科学家在美国疼痛协会会议上介绍一项研究，该研究发现玩电子游戏(尤其是虚拟现实游戏)能够有效地缓解由慢性疾病或医疗过程引起的焦虑或疼痛。

"The focus is drawn to the game not the pain or the medical procedure, while the virtual reality experience engages visual and other senses," said Jeffrey Gold from the University of Southern California.

南加州大学的Jeffrey Gold表示，虚拟现实游戏调动视觉和其他感官，将注意力吸引到游戏上，这样人们就不会被疼痛或医疗程序所吸引。

3. There's evidence games help dyslexic kids improve their reading

3. 游戏能够帮助失读症儿童提升阅读能力

Video games can help kids, too!

电子游戏也对儿童有益！

A 2013 study published in Cell investigated the effect that playing action games, like 'Rayman Raving Rabbids', could help dyslexic children aged 7 to 13 year read faster, with no loss in accuracy.

《细胞》杂志2013年刊登的一项研究表明，动作类游戏（比如雷曼疯狂兔子）能够帮助7-13岁的失读症儿童在不降低精确度的前提下提升阅读速度。

The results were equal or better to traditional reading treatments, which can be more time consuming and not as fun.

游戏疗法的成效等同于或优于传统阅读治疗，但后者更耗时、且不那么有趣。

The researchers think that the fast pace in these games helped the kids increase their attention spans, although this hypothesis is yet to be tested.

研究人员认为，这类游戏的快节奏能够提升儿童保持注意力的时间，但此假说尚未得到证实。

4. Tetris could help limit trauma

4. 俄罗斯方块有助抑制创伤

Trusty old Tetris might be good for more than just time wasting if this new study is anything to go by.

如果这项研究能有进展，那么古老的俄罗斯方块游戏就不仅仅是用来消耗时间的了。

Last year, 37 patients that arrived at a hospital emergency department in Oxford, UK, to be treated for a traffic accident were randomly selected to play 20 minutes of Tetris. Another 34 patients didn't get given the game, but were asked to log their regular activity instead – including things such as texting, crosswords, and reading.

去年，英国牛津一场交通事故中，有37位接受急诊治疗的患者被随机选中玩20分钟俄罗斯方块，另外34位患者则被要求进行其它常规活动，如发短信、填字谜、阅读等。

The Tetris players had significantly less flashbacks to the traumatic traffic event than those that didn't – about 62 percent less on average.

结果发现，俄罗斯方块玩家更少回忆起另人不快的交通事故，且效应十分显著——平均减少62%。

The research, published last month in Molecular Psychiatry, concludes that the "brief, science-driven intervention offers a low-intensity means that could substantially improve the mental health of those who have experienced psychological trauma."

上个月，这项研究发表于《分子精神病学》：“这是一种简单科学的低强度干预方式，却能够大幅提升遭受心理创伤者的心理健康。”

5. Some research shows that video games might actually make you smarter

5. 电子游戏或能使你更聪明

A study published in PLoS ONE in 2013 goes as far as saying that your cognition might be enhanced when you start up your Xbox or PlayStation.

2013年，一项发表在《公共科学图书馆》的研究表明，电子游戏或许能够增强认知功能。

The researchers took five groups of non-gamers, and made them play a phone game for one hour a day over four weeks.

研究人员探究了五组非游戏玩家，让他们在四周时间里每天玩一小时手机游戏。

They found that all video games, both action and non-action games, improved cognitive function in the participants – measured by tests such as short term memory tasks.

结果发现，所有电子游戏(包括动作类与非动作类)都能够提升参与者的认知功能，短期记忆水平等测试都证实了这一点。

6. Gaming is linked to an increase in brain matter

6. 玩游戏可增加大脑物质

A 2014 study published in Molecular Psychiatry by researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Germany from the found that playing Super Mario 64 caused an increase in the size of brain regions.

《分子精神病学》2014年发表过德国马克斯普朗克研究所的一项研究，他们发现玩“超级马里奥64”可以扩大脑区。

Specifically the bits of the brain responsible for spatial orientation, memory formation, strategic planning, and fine motor skills.

尤其是负责空间定位、记忆形成、策略制定和小肌肉运动技能的区域。

When the researchers looked at 24 participants who had played the game for 30 minutes a day for two months under an MRI machine they found that they had increased grey matter in the right hippocampus, right prefrontal cortex, and the cerebellum, compared to a control group that hadn't played any game.

在两个月时间内，24名参与者每天在核磁共振机器的监测下玩30分钟游戏。结果发现，相较于控制组，游戏玩家的右侧海马体、右侧前额皮质和小脑的灰质均有所增加。

"This proves that specific brain regions can be trained by means of video games", said one of the researchers, Simone Küh, at the time.

“这说明电子游戏能够训练特定大脑区域。”一位研究员Simone Küh说道。

So there you go – scientists have totally just backed your decision to play video games all weekend.

所以，科学家们给你整个周末打游戏的决定提供了强有力的支持。

（翻译：君儿）