This article reconceptualizes the psychological concept of ''flow'' as it pertains to media entertainment. Our goal is to advance flow theory in ways that highlight the necessity of reliable and valid operationalization. We posit flow as a discrete, energetically optimized, and gratifying experience resulting from a cognitive synchronization of specific attentional and reward networks under condition of balance between challenge and skill. We identify video-game play as a context in which flow is likely to occur, and where we can observe our neurophysiological conceptualization of flow using measurement techniques (functional magnetic resonance imaging [fMRI]) without disrupting the experiential state. After presenting preliminary evidence consistent with our synchronization theory of flow, we suggest ways to advance this research.This article suggests a reconceptualization of the psychological concept of flow as it pertains to mediated experiences. We specifically aim to further flow theory as applied to media entertainment in ways that highlight the necessity of reliable and valid operationalizations and measurements. The concept of flow originates in Csikszentmihalyi's (1990) theory of human happiness, balance, and optimal experience. Its original formulation posits that an experience, such as media enjoyment, can be viewed as the source of flow states, which are characterized by intense attentional focus, pleasurable feelings, and emotional rewards. This article will argue that in the media context, flow can be viewed as a discrete, energetically optimized, and gratifying experience resulting from a cognitive synchronization of attentional and reward networks under condition of balance between challenge and skill. This concept of flow as a cognitive-synchronization process provides, for the first time, both a theoretical rationale for this concept and a direct measurement of flow states.
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