CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Dec. 15 (UPI) -- A U.S. study found cognitive skills improved in adults in their 60s and 70s who were trained in playing a video game that rewards nation-building.

Study author Arthur Kramer University of Illinois said decades of research designed to improve specific cognitive skills such as short-term memory found that trainees can improve on the cognitive tasks in the lab -- but only under laboratory conditions.


"When you train somebody on a task they tend to improve in that task, whatever it is, but it usually doesn't transfer much beyond that skill or beyond the particular situation in which they learned it," Kramer said in a statement.

After testing several video games, the researchers selected "Rise of Nations," which gives gamers points for building cities and accomplishing several tasks, stressing resource management and planning -- cognitive functions that decline most with age.

The study included 40 older adults, half receiving 23.5 hours of training in the video game, and half getting no training in the game.

The study, published in the journal Psychology & Aging, found the gamers became significantly better and faster at switching between tasks. Working memory significantly improved and reasoning ability was enhanced -- compared to the comparison group.

However, the training had no effect on the gamers' ability to recall a list of words, enumeration ability or being able to inhibit certain responses.