Playing Tetris may help post traumatic stress, Oxford researchers have discovered.
The game may have a special ability to reduce flashbacks not shared by other types of computer games.
In a study run by Oxford University scientists, volunteers were shown a film which included traumatic images of injury from a variety of sources, including adverts highlighting the dangers of drink driving, and then played Tetris on a pub quiz machine.
They found that the team playing Tetris after viewing traumatic images had significantly fewer flashbacks of the film, while the team who had played other games on Pub Quiz experienced considerably more flashbacks.
Researchers believe that the rapid succession of visual images in the game may distract the brain from recurring, intrusive thoughts symptomatic of post traumatic stress disorder.
