Posted by Aaron Dean, Research Assistant

Every morning, when I get on the metro, I invariably see at least one person playing Angry Birds, the smash hit of mobile gaming last year. Bringing in an estimated $100 million in 2011 for their creators, Rovio, the game may be like a bad drug addiction, but could it be good for your brain? According to a study published this month in Archives of Neurology it very well could be. The study found participating in activities which require focus in early to middle age, like playing video games, slows the growth of amyloid, a brain protein many scientists believe causes Alzheimer’s disease along with other brain diseases.

On top of the research, AARP recommends gaming as a way to keep your brain sharp in their 50 Ways to Keep Your Brain in Good Shape. There have also been other studies which show that gamers have better hand-eye coordination. One demonstration comes from Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, reporting that doctors who play video games for at least 3 hours a week made 37% less mistakes in laparoscopic procedures than their non-gaming colleagues. Gamers have also been shown to be less fearful of creatively solving problems, a much prized ability in today’s competitive workforce.

If you’re not an Angry Birds fan there are plenty of games on a number of platforms to choose from. For the professional on the run (aka the bored commuter) I personally recommend Minecraft Pocket Edition and Tetris both for iPhone and Android devices.

Obviously there are other ways to keep the mind sharp with activities such as reading and writing, however, when I’m on the metro for 15 or 20 minutes each morning, I don’t want to get sucked into a book and have to put it down, nor do I really have the luxury of writing something, but I can fling colorful, pissed off birds at smug ugly pigs for a few minutes. It’s all in the name of keeping my brain sharp, I swear.