Association of Video Gaming With Cognitive Performance Among Children

Abstract

ImportanceAlthough most research has linked video gaming to subsequent increases in aggressive behavior in children after accounting for prior aggression, findings have been divided with respect to video gaming’s association with cognitive skills.ObjectiveTo examine the association between video gaming and cognition in children using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsIn this case-control study, cognitive performance and blood oxygen level–dependent (BOLD) signal were compared in video gamers (VGs) and non–video gamers (NVGs) during response inhibition and working memory using task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a large data set of 9- and 10-year-old children from the ABCD study, with good control of demographic, behavioral, and psychiatric confounding effects. A sample from the baseline assessment of the ABCD 2.0.1 release in 2019 was largely recruited across 21 sites in the US through public, private, and charter elementary schools using a population neuroscience approach to recruitment, aiming to mirror demographic variation in the US population. Children with valid neuroimaging and behavioral data were included. Some exclusions included common MRI contraindications, history of major neurologic disorders, and history of traumatic brain injury.ExposuresParticipants completed a self-reported screen time survey including an item asking children to report the time specifically spent on video gaming. All fMRI tasks were performed by all participants.Main Outcomes and MeasuresVideo gaming time, cognitive performance, and BOLD signal assessed with n-back and stop signal tasks on fMRI. Collected data were analyzed between October 2019 and October 2020.ResultsA total of 2217 children (mean [SD] age, 9.91 [0.62] years; 1399 [63.1%] female) participated in this study. The final sample used in the stop signal task analyses consisted of 1128 NVGs (0 gaming hours per week) and 679 VGs who played at least 21 hours per week. The final sample used in the n-back analyses consisted of 1278 NVGs who had never played video games (0 hours per week of gaming) and 800 VGs who played at least 21 hours per week. The VGs performed better on both fMRI tasks compared with the NVGs. Nonparametric analyses of fMRI data demonstrated a greater BOLD signal in VGs in the precuneus during inhibitory control. During working memory, a smaller BOLD signal was observed in VGs in parts of the occipital cortex and calcarine sulcus and a larger BOLD signal in the cingulate, middle, and frontal gyri and the precuneus.Conclusions and RelevanceIn this study, compared with NVGs, VGs were found to exhibit better cognitive performance involving response inhibition and working memory as well as altered BOLD signal in key regions of the cortex responsible for visual, attention, and memory processing. The findings are consistent with videogaming improving cognitive abilities that involve response inhibition and working memory and altering their underlying cortical pathways.

Assessment of human expertise and movement kinematics in first-person shooter games

“…The principled study of digital game performance is in its infancy (Huang et al, 2017 ; Campbell et al, 2018 ; Listman et al, 2021 ), even though video games have been popular for decades (Gee, 2003 ; Kent, 2010 ; Egenfeldt-Nielsen et al, 2013 ; Ivory, 2015 ; Wolf, 2015 ). Performance in first-person shooter (FPS) video games relies on acquired perceptual and motor skills (Green and Bavelier, 2003 ) and evidence suggests that playing these games enhances visuomotor and cognitive skills (Green and Bavelier, 2008 ; Bavelier et al, 2012 ) in a variety of visual and cognitive tasks (Green and Bavelier, 2003 , 2007 ; Dye et al, 2009 ; Colzato et al, 2013 ) in children and adolescents (Funk and Buchman, 1996 ; Adachi and Willoughby, 2013a , b , c ; Chaarani et al, 2022 ) as well as adults (Green and Bavelier, 2006 , 2007 ; Kowal et al, 2018 ). There is, consequently, much interest in research on this topic, including the potential applications in digital therapeutics (Hong et al, 2021 ), but there is a paucity of studies on gaming performance, itself.…”

Children's screentime is associated with reduced brain activation during an inhibitory control task: A pilot EEG study

“…For example, previous studies in infants and toddlers suggest that very young children (4 mo−5 yrs) display negative relationships between screentime and behavioral inhibition (McHarg et al, 2020a,b). Conversely, a recent study in school-aged children (9-10 yrs) used a stop signal task (another measure of inhibitory control) to reveal a positive relationship between screentime and behavioral inhibition (Chaarani et al, 2022). In this study, children who played video games for a substantial amount of time (21+ h/week) exhibited slightly faster responses (∼8 ms) compared to peers who did not play video games (0 h/week), suggesting that high levels of video-game-related screentime may enhance specific aspects of cognition, such as speed of inhibitory control/response times (Manzi et al, 2011).…”

Video Games—Cognitive Help or Hindrance?

“…In conclusion, through their analysis of an fMRI data set from large ABCD cohort, Chaarani and colleagues 1 have contributed yet another piece to the puzzle regarding the influence of video gaming on cognitive function and health. Their results suggest a possible benefit to video gaming in the realm of working memory and executive response inhibition.…”

“…To clarify the impact of video games on personal and societal health, neuroscientists have researched the effects of video gaming on the human brain, an effort that has included many functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. As part of this widening investigation, Chaarani and colleagues studied the neurocognitive ramifications of playing video games by analyzing publicly available fMRI data from the National Institutes of Health–sponsored Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study cohort. In their analysis, published in this issue of JAMA Network Open , the authors discovered that 9- and 10-year-old children who played at least 21 hours of video games per week demonstrated higher levels of performance on fMRI emotional working memory (n = 679) and response inhibition tasks (n = 800) compared with a group of similarly aged control individuals who did not routinely play video games.…”

“…Consequently, one must also ask to what degree the specific variety of video games pursued by participants influences cognitive changes. To this point, Chaarani and colleagues reported the number of hours their research participants devoted to video games on a weekly basis; however, the specific makeup of those games remains unknown. Although much research has been directed at the effects of violent video games on the limbic system, other styles of video games have garnered much less interest among researchers.…”