Casual-games maker PopCap Games and The Games For Health project have melded minds in a joint effort to research the positive effect of digital games on cognitive health. Findings will be presented in a public knowledge-base this spring, summarizing both the research and market development activities associated with the use of digital games for feeding healthy brains.

On the other side of the coin (and the pond), researchers have found that educational games are actually harming childood learning. According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, "research published in the journal Education 3 to 13 has found that pupils who use interactive programs cannot remember stories they have just read because they are distracted by cartoons and sound effects."

Games: healthy diversion, or harmful distraction? I say "Yes!"