"超级玛丽"是最佳益智游戏?

　　People playing computer games to train their brains might as well be playing Super Mario, a new research suggests. In a six-week study, experts found people who played online games designed to improve their cognitive skills didn’t get any smarter.

　　一项新研究表明，想通过玩电脑游戏来锻炼大脑的人倒不如去玩“超级玛丽”（译者注：日本任天堂公司上世纪推出的一款红白机小游戏）。在一项为期六周的研究中，专家发现，以提高玩家认知能力为目的的网络游戏并没有使玩家变得更聪明。

　　Researchers recruited participants from viewers of the BBC’s science show “Bang Goes the Theory.” More than 8,600 people aged 18 to 60 were asked to play online brain games designed by the researchers to improve their memory, reasoning and other skills for at least 10 minutes a day, three times a week.

　　研究人员从英国广播公司的科学节目“理论大爆炸”的观众中招募人员参与该项研究。8600 多名年龄介于18岁至60岁的参与者被要求玩一些由研究人员设计的网络益智游戏，每天至少玩十分钟，每周三次。这些网络游戏的设计目的是提高玩家的记忆力、推理能力和其他能力。