My friend Dr. Phillip Zeman has been conducting some pretty amazing research over the past 7 years tracking how the brain functions during 3d video games. Seems kind of useless if you think of it in that way (at least to a layman) but then consider that he is taking it to the next step by then seeing how pharmaceuticals effect spatial interpretation. Very cool stuff.
Here is a video from a recent news interview with Phil:
For more information check out his website http://www.spatialbrain.com