Trial reportPloS one2017
Playing Super Mario 64 increases hippocampal grey matter in older adults.
Trial report in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 122 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neurobiological effects of music-making interventions for older adults: a systematic review.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2025Pooled it
- The effects of video games on cognitive function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy of video game-based interventions for active aging. A systematic literature review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2018Pooled it
- Efficacy of Digital Dance on Brain Imagery, Cognition, and Health: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Trial
- Videogame training increases clinical well-being, attention and hippocampal-prefrontal functional connectivity in patients with schizophrenia.Translational psychiatry · 2024Trial
- Science and Videogames: From Scientific Dissemination to Knowledge Production.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2026Article
- Effects of Traditional and Technology-Based Exercise Interventions on Cognitive Function in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of Intelligence · 2026Review
- The effects of tabletop gaming on patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: A feasibility study.Fujita medical journal · 2026Article
- Associations of distinct sedentary behaviors with cortical, subcortical, and white matter hyperintensity volumes: Evidence from the ARIC study.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Article
- Characterizing the cognitive and mental health benefits of exercise and video game playing.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Effect of digital game intervention on cognitive functions in older adults: a multiple baseline single case experimental design study.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Sedentary behavior and lifespan brain health.Trends in cognitive sciences · 2024Review
- Effects of Cognitively Stimulating Activities on the Cognitive Functioning of Older People with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Meta-analysis.Acta medica Philippina · 2024Article
- Developing cognitive workload and performance evaluation models using functional brain network analysis.npj aging · 2023Article
- Article
- VR for Cognition and Memory.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2023Review
- The application of technology to improve cognition in older adults: A review and suggestions for future directions.PsyCh journal · 2022Review
- A pilot voxel-based morphometry study of older adults after the PICMOR intervention program.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Maintaining grey matter within the hippocampus is important for healthy cognition. Playing 3D-platform video games has previously been shown to promote grey matter in the hippocampus in younger adults. In the current study, we tested the impact of 3D-platform video game training (i.e., Super Mario 64) on grey matter in the hippocampus, cerebellum, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of older adults. Older adults who were 55 to 75 years of age were randomized into three groups. The video game experimental group (VID; n = 8) engaged in a 3D-platform video game training over a period of 6 months. Additionally, an active control group took a series of self-directed, computerized music (piano) lessons (MUS; n = 12), while a no-contact control group did not engage in any intervention (CON; n = 13). After training, a within-subject increase in grey matter within the hippocampus was significant only in the VID training group, replicating results observed in younger adults. Active control MUS training did, however, lead to a within-subject increase in the DLPFC, while both the VID and MUS training produced growth in the cerebellum. In contrast, the CON group displayed significant grey matter loss in the hippocampus, cerebellum and the DLPFC.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.