This research report by Jing Feng, Ian Spence, and Jay Pratt from the University of Toronto investigates the impact of playing action video games on gender differences in spatial cognition. The study demonstrates a previously unknown gender difference in spatial attention, which is a fundamental capacity that supports higher-level spatial cognition. Notably, playing an action video game can significantly reduce this gender difference in spatial attention and decrease the gender disparity in mental rotation ability, a higher-level spatial cognitive process. After just 10 hours of training with an action video game, subjects showed substantial improvements in both spatial attention and mental rotation, with women benefiting more than men. Control subjects who played a non-action game showed no improvement. Given that superior spatial skills are crucial in fields such as mathematics and engineering, these findings have practical implications for attracting more women to these fields. The study also highlights the importance of attentional processes in spatial cognition and suggests that training with appropriate video games could play a significant role in promoting gender equality in these fields.This research report by Jing Feng, Ian Spence, and Jay Pratt from the University of Toronto investigates the impact of playing action video games on gender differences in spatial cognition. The study demonstrates a previously unknown gender difference in spatial attention, which is a fundamental capacity that supports higher-level spatial cognition. Notably, playing an action video game can significantly reduce this gender difference in spatial attention and decrease the gender disparity in mental rotation ability, a higher-level spatial cognitive process. After just 10 hours of training with an action video game, subjects showed substantial improvements in both spatial attention and mental rotation, with women benefiting more than men. Control subjects who played a non-action game showed no improvement. Given that superior spatial skills are crucial in fields such as mathematics and engineering, these findings have practical implications for attracting more women to these fields. The study also highlights the importance of attentional processes in spatial cognition and suggests that training with appropriate video games could play a significant role in promoting gender equality in these fields.