Students may notice as they progress through their academic career that they may not be able to think as fast as they used to, have a hard time remembering things or even have trouble multitasking in this fast-paced world we live in.

Eventually, students end up like their parents and their grandparents, with their brains only a fraction as useful as they used to be.

Now there is a solution! And surprisingly you might have already been employing it in your everyday activities for years.

The solution: video games.

Recently, Canadian researches discovered that the multitasking utilized in video games can slow the brain’s aging process.

According to an article on globeandmail.com, a study done in Toronto on 100 students showed that the brains of those who played video games were much more responsive than those that do not play.

Also, if by some chance students happen to be bilingual as well, their mental capacities might be unparalleled.

Who would have thought that endless hours of Super Mario, Street Fighter, Madden, Sonic and Barbie Vacation Adventure would be paying off dividends to this day?

What, you didn’t play Barbie?

Well, let me tell you, students who didn’t play Barbie missed out on cruising in the Barbie’s awesome sports car and enjoying romantic vacation spots with Ken – he was such a hunk. I still get starry-eyed just thinking about that chiseled physique and expressionless look in his face”

Anyway, the point is that most college students these days have grown up on video games.

Those students who have not embraced video games might be paying for it now with bad grades.

I’m sure most students have that friend who does not study for tests and sits up all night playing Halo 2. When test time comes around, he aces it while those chumps that studied managed to pull off a B minus.

The reason is simple: His brain is much better equipped to handle difficult questions and logic than yours.

There is hope though.

Nintendo has released a game for the Nintendo DS in Japan.

This game has been sweeping the California-sized nation and addresses the problem of increasing brain decrepitude. Roughly translated as “Adult DS Training,” the game will be released in America this May under the title “Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day.”

Considered a “non-game,” the software consists of several mini-games, such as fast paced arithmetic, a follow the bouncing ball style piano simulator and word games.

The basic idea is that by spending a few minutes a day on this game, users can improve their brains’ flexibility and gain the mental edge everyone wants. Players can even check their progress daily by taking a daily test that allows them to see the age of their brain.

The fastest working brains test at age 20.

That is not the only way the DS is “training” adults. A game designer with Ubisoft, a video game software company, has designed a game for the Nintendo DS that simulates stimulating females to orgasm.

The star of the game is a blue bunny named Lapis. Players tap, stroke or tickle the bunny using the touch screen on the DS. Players also can talk and blow into the microphone of the DS to stimulate the bunny.

Once the bunny is sufficiently stimulated it begins to fly in the air. However, there are some cases when no matter what players do they will be unable to stimulate the bunny.

With all of these options available to help students improve themselves mentally and physically, those that do not embrace video games as a tool to improve their mental capacities will be left back in the analog age.

So train up! Who knows, maybe your grades will show it.

Send comments to George at [email protected].