change neural connections in the brain.

Results published this week in npj Science of Learning (a Nature journal) reveal for the first time that, in as few as two weeks, kids who played a video game designed to train empathy showed greater connectivity in brain networks related to empathy and perspective taking. Some also showed altered neural networks commonly linked to emotion regulation, a crucial skill that this age group is beginning to develop, the study authors say.

"The realization that these skills are actually trainable with video games is important because they are predictors of emotional well-being and health throughout life, and can be practiced anytime—with or without video games," says Tammi Kral, a UW–Madison graduate student in psychology who led the research at the Center for Healthy Minds.

Richardto data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. This spike in gameplay during adolescence coincides with an explosion in brain growth as well as a time when kids are susceptible to first encounters with depression, anxiety and bullying. The team wanted to learn whether there were ways to use video games as a vehicle for positive emotional development during this critical period.

Researchers randomly assigned 150 middle schoolers to two groups. One played the experimental game, called "Crystals of Kaydor," which was created for research purposes and intended to teach empathy. The second group played a commercially available and entertaining control game called "Bastion" that does not target empathy.

In Crystals of Kaydor, kids interacted with the aliens on the distant planet and learned to identify the intensity of emotions they