Unnatural hand-eye co-ordination, a theory

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(Would be great if I got a reply from some science-whizz or psychologist who knows about these things, because I really have no clue...any links to research etc would be great)

So, basically, I have always put my good hand-eye co-ordination down to the fact I have played Tetris almost every day since I was 9.

I had okay hand-eye co-ordination and reaction times before this habit began...I am, supposedly, "musical", music is "in the family"...so I was sort of encouraged into it and people tend to believe that this is a genetic thing too. I always had fast-moving hands, but I didn't necessarily always hit the notes...I was hasty and innacurate as I started to learn. But when my Tetris habit started, I thought about it more, I calculated things before I did them THEN sped up. Now I can do all sorts of crap neat, precise and very very fast- like putting stuff on a supermarket conveyor belt. All the packets face the same way, there are absolutely no gaps between products, I pile things up and put the "Next customer, please" barriers as close to my items as possible, so it's convenient for the next person. I do all of this very quickly and now automatically. I catch a ball better, too. And I am better at making snap decisions. I am very quick at picking up puzzle games now as well, games I have never played before I now understand instantly.

I think if I stopped playing Tetris, this would all disappear. I have never questioned this theory...so I keep playing. But now I wonder if it means anything at all. Is there any scientific proof or research that shows playing this kind of thing excessively can improve hand-eye co-ordination and reaction times? (I personally think that Brain Training is a load of...what-have-you)

And, my other question, do you think it could have something to do with AS? I'm unable to elaborate on this question because I'm really unsure what kind of answer I am looking for...it seems almost anything and everything can be linked to AS, we are all such odd, varied humes...

Anyway, thanks.

Yes it sounds AS related.

I think it was a mixture of the fact that you did it so intensely, and the fact that you managed to turn it into a form of systematizing.

I'm no expert. I can only share my experiences. When I was younger I played in Quake deathmatch tournaments. I was consistantly ranked top 100 in the World, out of millions of other players. I'm also a very good marksman (real weapons, not video games). I don't have any evidence to suggest that this is due to AS. Could be.

I don’t know if this helps but my wife is Aspie’sh, she would never admit it though. For example she is deathly afraid of speaking on the phone to strangers but she has great hand eye coordination. She can beat me in any game without even trying.

Bump.

(Argh, did I really just do that...? Bumping annoys me ever so slightly...still, I want to keep this thread going 'cause it's 3am, I can't sleep, and I'd LOVE some long passages of experience, research and links to read through! xD)

There have been several studies in the past few years demonstrating that playing video games improves hand-eye coordination and spatial perception. Recent books on military robots have also observed that younger recruits, the so-called "video game generation", more readily learns and becomes skilled at operating remotely piloted vehicles.

Although AS may initially be an impediment to becoming proficient at certain hand-eye activities, many Aspies have highly accurate senses, plus the ability to perceive small changes in their immediate environment that NTs would overlook. Such abilities are well-documented in savants such as Daniel Tammet, who describes them in both of his books.

So combine dedicated, or obsessive if you prefer, playing of a game like Tetris with the systematized approach that Aspies take to the world, and add in the possible improved sensory perception that at least some Aspies have, and the result is that with time and practice, you can become extremely precise and fast at a physical activity.

Check PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez) searching with keywords like "Asperger" or "Autism" combined with words like "coordination" or words involving various tasks that interest you.

And this morning on Slashdot I saw a link to this:

Tetris can alter the structure of your brain (http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/200 ... brain.aspx).

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/09/01/2049186.aspx

This article is about the effect of video games on the brain. It specifically mentions Tetris and includes links to other research articles.