Study: Playing video games may improve eyesight

Playing action video games may actually help adults improve their eyesight, according to a study released Sunday.

People who used a video-game training program saw improvements in their contrast sensitivity, or the ability to notice subtle differences in shades of gray, according to a study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

The training could also be beneficial to people who have amblyopia--commonly known as lazy eye--and those who have trouble seeing while driving at night, the study said.

"Normally, improving contrast sensitivity means getting glasses or eye surgery -- somehow changing the optics of the eye," said Daphne Bavelier of the University of Rochester in New York.

"But we've found that action video games train the brain to process the existing visual information more efficiently, and the improvements last for months after game play stopped."