Do gamers have faster reaction times than non-gamers?
The short answer
Yes — multiple controlled studies confirm that action video game players have significantly faster reaction times than non-gamers, typically 15–20ms faster on simple visual RT tasks and 30–50ms faster on choice RT tasks.
The landmark study was Green & Bavelier (2003) in Nature, which showed that playing action games for 1 hour/day over 10 days improved RT on untrained tasks. The effect is real and transfers beyond gaming — gamers are faster at detecting road hazards, tracking multiple objects, and making time-pressured decisions.
The data
Causation, not just correlation: Randomised controlled trials (where non-gamers are assigned to play action games) show the same RT improvements. Gaming causes faster RT — faster people don't merely self-select into gaming.
What it means for you
Professional esports players (League of Legends, CS:GO) have been measured at 150–180ms average RT in multiple academic studies — comparable to elite traditional athletes. Take the Reaction Time test to find your baseline and compare to the gamer population.
Test it yourself
Free, no account needed — results in 60 seconds.
Quick Answer
Yes - action gamers average 15–20ms faster than non-gamers on visual RT tasks. Multiple controlled studies confirm this and show the effect transfers beyond gaming.
Related Test
More Questions
Go deeper
The Science Page
Peer-reviewed research and full methodology behind every test.