Activision

Still from the game "Call Of Duty."

The National Rifle Association, or NRA, says violent video games are partly to blame for the mass shootings in Newtown. Last week the NRA's chief lobbyist, Wayne LaPierre, singled out some of those games during a press conference.

It's not a new argument: for years, parents have been concerned about the potential effects of violent video games on children. However, a large body of research over the past decade suggests that first-person shooter games may have some neurological benefits.

Lydia Denworth explores this theory in her article "Brain-Changing Games," in the new issue of Scientific American Mind.