New Scientist reports on a recent study that goes some way to demonstrating a causal link between playing violent video games and being more aggressive, rather than mere association. The study showed that those who played more violent games were less sensitive to pictures of violence, and this same reduced reaction was correlated with greater aggressiveness.

On a more positive note, ScienCentral has an article about a successful computer "game" that improved young children's attention spans in just five days. The training also improved nonverbal reasoning. Intriguingly, the study also found that those with a particular gene variant tended to have most difficulty with attention, and benefited most from the training.