Experienced video game players exhibit superior performance in visuospatial cognition when compared to non-players. However, very little is known about the relation between video game experience and structural brain plasticity. To address this issue, a direct comparison of the white matter brain structure in RTS (real time strategy) video game players (VGPs) and non-players (NVGPs) was performed. We hypothesized that RTS experience can enhance connectivity within and between occipital and parietal regions, as these regions are likely to be involved in the spatial and visual abilities that are trained while playing RTS games. The possible influence of long-term RTS game play experience on brain structural connections was investigated using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and a region of interest (ROI) approach in order to describe the experience-related plasticity of white matter. Our results revealed significantly more total white matter connections between occipital and parietal areas and within occipital areas in RTS players compared to NVGPs. Additionally, the RTS group had an altered topological organization of their structural network, expressed in local efficiency within the occipito-parietal subnetwork. Furthermore, the positive association between network metrics and time spent playing RTS games suggests a close relationship between extensive, long-term RTS game play and neuroplastic changes. These results indicate that long-term and extensive RTS game experience induces alterations along axons that link structures of the occipito-parietal loop involved in spatial and visual processing.
It is unclear why some people learn faster than others. We performed two independent studies in which we investigated the neural basis of real-time strategy (RTS) gaming and neural predictors of RTS games skill-acquisition. In the first (cross-sectional) study we found that experts in the RTS game StarCraft II (SC2) had a larger lenticular nucleus volume than non-RTS players. We followed a cross validation procedure where we used the volume of regions identified in the first study to predict the quality of learning a new, complex skill (SC2) in a sample of individuals who were naïve to RTS games (second training study). Our findings provide new insights into how the volume of lenticular nucleus, which is associated with motor as well as cognitive functions, can be utilized to predict successful skill-learning, and be applied to a much broader context than just video games, e.g. contributing to optimizing cognitive training interventions.
Mimo iż gry wideo, zwane również grami komputerowymi, nie powstały, aby uczyć to stanowią płaszczyznę do badania neuroplastyczności czyli zdolności mózgu do ,,przeprogramowywania się?? w wyniku specyficznego doświadczenia. Badania donoszą, iż regularne granie w gry komputerowe, w szczególności gry akcji, poprawia głównie podstawowe zdolności poznawcze, takie jak szybkość reagowania, wrażliwość na kontrast czy selektywność i podzielność uwagi. Pojedyncze badania pokazują poprawę funkcji wykonawczych. Mniej wiadomo natomiast nt. neuronalnych podstaw tego rodzaju poprawy. W niniejszym artykule podsumowujemy wyniki badań, w których przeprowadzano pomiary strukturalnych zmian mózgu w wyniku doświadczenia z grami komputerowymi. Zestawione zostały badania wykorzystujące głównie dwie metody badania plastyczności mózgu - morfometrii bazującej na wokselach (ang. based morphometry, VBM) istoty szarej oraz obrazowanie tensora dyfuzji (ang. diffusion tensor imaging, DTI) w istocie białej. Badania zmian strukturalnych mózgu z użyciem rezonansu magnetycznego (magnetic resonance imaging, MRI) dostarczają kolejnych przykładów na potencjalne korzyści płynące z grania w gry komputerowe.
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