If you find video games a struggle, it could be because of the size of certain parts of your brain.

Researchers from the University of Illinois, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found they can predict how well an amateur player might perform on a game by measuring the volume of key sections of the brain.

Writing in the journal “Cerebral Cortex,” they suggest their findings could have wider implications for understanding the differences in learning rates.

There is broad acceptance of a link between brain-size and intelligence, however within the animal kingdom some smaller brains appear superior to many larger ones: the monkey’s compared with the horse, for instance, or the human and the elephant.

Suddenly some kids around town are itchy and scratchy.

And blotchy

Oakland County health officials say they’re seeing more children than expected being diagnosed with chicken pox for this time of year. In response, several school districts are spreading the word to parents about new rules for a second dose of the vaccine. Officials say about 80 cases have been reported since the start of the school year — which is higher than normal. Chicken pox is a highly contagious virus with symptoms ranging from mild to severe. Those infected generally have a fever, flu or cold-like symptoms and itchy blotches on their body.

Good news for people who don’t like making their bed in the morning:

you may be doing yourself a favor.

Scientists in the U.K. say their research suggests that an unmade bed is unappealing to house dust mites thought to cause asthma and other allergies. A Kingston University study discovered the bugs cannot survive in the conditions found in an unmade bed.

The average bed could be home to up to 1.5 million house dust mites. (Yuck.)

She poked a Picasso!

A famous painting by Pablo Picasso will have to be repaired after a visitor to the Metropolitan Museum of Art accidentally lost her balance, hit the painting and ripped it. The museum says the accident caused a vertical tear of about 6 inches in the lower right-hand corner of “The Actor,” painted by Picasso during the winter of 1904.

It’s still popping after all these years.

Bubble Wrap turns 50 this month, and fans and fashionistas are celebrating its many uses. It’s not just for wrapping breakables. Bubble Wrap executives say one woman even had her wedding dress made out of the stuff.

James Cameron’s “Avatar” is on a course to sink “Titanic”’s record at the box office. The 20th Century Fox sci-fi spectacle is No. 1 for the sixth-straight weekend with $36 million, lifting its domestic total to $552.8 million, according to studio estimates.