According to a new study, playing certain video games can boost the brain’s flexibility. Researchers say that this could help to find new treatments for people with brain injuries or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

To study this theory, researchers used female volunteers who played video games for less than two hours a week. Researchers could not find any male gamer who spent this little time playing video games throughout the week.

Two-thirds of the participants played different versions of “StarCraft,” a real-time strategy game, which is a fast-paced game in which players have to create and run armies to fight different enemies. One-third played “The Sims,” a life simulation game, which does not use memory or tactical skills.

The participants played the games for 40 hours over six to eight weeks and underwent tests of their “cognitive flexibility.” This is a person’s ability to switch between tasks and think about many ideas at once to solve problems.

“Creative problem solving and ‘thinking outside the box’ require cognitive flexibility. Perhaps in contrast to the repetitive nature of work in past centuries, the modern knowledge economy places a premium on cognitive flexibility,” says Professor Brad Love from UCL.

Results showed that those who played “StarCraft” were faster and more accurate in performing cognitive flexibility actions than those who played “The Sims.”

“The volunteers who played the most complex version of the video game performed the best in the post-game psychological tests. We need to understand now what exactly about these games is leading to these changes, and whether these cognitive boosts are permanent or if they dwindle over time. Once we have that understanding, it could become possible to develop clinical interventions for symptoms related to ADHD or brain injuries,” says Dr. Brian Glass, of the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at Queen Mary University of London.