The debate over whether games are good for you isn’t likely to disappear anytime soon, but one recent study discovered an interesting positive.

A study filed by Cognitive Daily (via Andrew Sullivan) was investigating ways to close the gap traditionally found between the visuospatial skills (key to engineering and graphics work) of males and females; males typically perform better.

A mixed group of 20 non-gamers played “Medal of Honor: Airborne” for ten hours over a four week period and report back for testing. Another did the same for “Balance,” a 3D puzzle game. The study found that for those assigned to “Medal of Honor,” not only was the gap between males and females diminished, it was nearly erased entirely. The same result was not found with “Balance.”

“So, could encouraging girls to play action video games actually improve their math and science skills?” asked the writer of the study. “It’s certainly a possibility. It’s intriguing that not just any game will improve these skills — even a three-dimensional puzzle game didn’t help; only the serious life-and-death action game seemed to work.”

They do point out the study doesn’t necessarily prove anything, but regards it as an interesting result. “I think another step is needed before we start promoting “Halo” as the answer to all sex discrimination,” said researcher Dave Munger.