Brain activity during the flow experience: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

Yoshida, Kazuki; Sawamura, Daisuke; Inagaki, Yuichi; Ogawa, Kazuyoshi; Ikoma, Katsunori; Sakai, Shinya

doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2014.05.011

Cited by 70 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…However, a different neural circuit was responsible when negative affect increased, characterized by activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and deactivation of the HC and the precuneus, that seemed to counteract the state of boredom, possibly by planning future actions during inactive periods (Mathiak et al, 2013). Involvement of frontal regions was also observed by Yoshida et al (2014) related to flow and boredom states. During the state of flow, activity in bilateral ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) [comprising the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and lateral OFC] increased, and it decreased when participants were subject to a boredom state.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Neural Basis of Video Gaming: A Systematic Review

Palaus

Marrón

Viejo-Sobera

et al. 2017

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

192

151

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Background: Video gaming is an increasingly popular activity in contemporary society, especially among young people, and video games are increasing in popularity not only as a research tool but also as a field of study. Many studies have focused on the neural and behavioral effects of video games, providing a great deal of video game derived brain correlates in recent decades. There is a great amount of information, obtained through a myriad of methods, providing neural correlates of video games.Objectives: We aim to understand the relationship between the use of video games and their neural correlates, taking into account the whole variety of cognitive factors that they encompass.Methods: A systematic review was conducted using standardized search operators that included the presence of video games and neuro-imaging techniques or references to structural or functional brain changes. Separate categories were made for studies featuring Internet Gaming Disorder and studies focused on the violent content of video games.Results: A total of 116 articles were considered for the final selection. One hundred provided functional data and 22 measured structural brain changes. One-third of the studies covered video game addiction, and 14% focused on video game related violence.Conclusions: Despite the innate heterogeneity of the field of study, it has been possible to establish a series of links between the neural and cognitive aspects, particularly regarding attention, cognitive control, visuospatial skills, cognitive workload, and reward processing. However, many aspects could be improved. The lack of standardization in the different aspects of video game related research, such as the participants' characteristics, the features of each video game genre and the diverse study goals could contribute to discrepancies in many related studies.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Neural Basis of Video Gaming: A Systematic Review

Palaus

Marrón

Viejo-Sobera

et al. 2017

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

192

151

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The deactivation of DLPFC appeared to be modulated by the genre of the game, but not the age or the performance level of the player . Flow experience during video game playing, but not passive viewing of video game contents , was associated with DLPFC deactivations . Consistent with these previous results, our results demonstrated that game onset was associated with an abrupt and significant deactivation of DLPFC, which subsequently returned towards the baseline after the first encounter with an enemy champion.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The changes of HbO 2 /Hb level in the VLPFC appeared to have followed the demand of visuo‐motor interactions, being modest upon the game onset and becoming larger after the first encounter. The results are, therefore, consistent with the notion that VLPFC activations during video game playing may be a response to visuo‐motor processes .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…In addition, VLPFC is also a part of the ventral attentional network responsible for reorienting attention in a bottom‐up manner when salient stimuli occur in the external environment . VLPFC activations have been observed previously during video game playing and virtual reality tasks; and been linked to cognitive demand required for the player's visuo‐motor interactions with the virtual environment .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

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Real‐time monitoring prefrontal activities during online video game playing by functional near‐infrared spectroscopy

Zhang

Long

et al. 2018

Journal of Biophotonics

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A growing body of literature has suggested that video game playing can induce functional and structural plasticity of the brain. The underlying mechanisms, however, remain poorly understood. In this study, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to record prefrontal activities in 24 experienced game players when they played a massively multiplayer online battle arena video game, League of Legends (LOL), under naturalistic conditions. It was observed that game onset was associated with significant activations in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and concomitant deactivations in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and frontal pole area (FPA). Game events, such as slaying an enemy and being slain by an enemy evoked region-specific time-locked hemodynamic/oxygenation responses in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). It was proposed that the VLPFC activities during LOL playing are likely responses to visuo-motor task load of the game, while the DLPFC/FPA activities may be involved in the constant shifts of attentional states and allocation of cognitive resources required by game playing. The present study demonstrated that it is feasible to use fNIRS to monitor real-time prefrontal activity during online video game playing.

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“…Results also indicated that flow was associated with deactivations within the MPFC, suggesting suppressed default mode network activity. In another study, Yoshida et al (2014) used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to examine the time course of neural activations within the prefrontal cortex during states of flow and boredom when participants played Tetris ® . Again, consistent with the idea that intrinsically motivated states recruit central executive regions, results indicated increasing bilateral activity within lateral PFC regions during flow.…”

Section: Mapping Phenomenology To Brain Function: Toward a Neurobiolomentioning

confidence: 99%

The Emerging Neuroscience of Intrinsic Motivation: A New Frontier in Self-Determination Research

Domenico

Ryan

2017

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

289

177

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Intrinsic motivation refers to people’s spontaneous tendencies to be curious and interested, to seek out challenges and to exercise and develop their skills and knowledge, even in the absence of operationally separable rewards. Over the past four decades, experimental and field research guided by self-determination theory (SDT; Ryan and Deci, 2017) has found intrinsic motivation to predict enhanced learning, performance, creativity, optimal development and psychological wellness. Only recently, however, have studies begun to examine the neurobiological substrates of intrinsic motivation. In the present article, we trace the history of intrinsic motivation research, compare and contrast intrinsic motivation to closely related topics (flow, curiosity, trait plasticity), link intrinsic motivation to key findings in the comparative affective neurosciences, and review burgeoning neuroscience research on intrinsic motivation. We review converging evidence suggesting that intrinsically motivated exploratory and mastery behaviors are phylogenetically ancient tendencies that are subserved by dopaminergic systems. Studies also suggest that intrinsic motivation is associated with patterns of activity across large-scale neural networks, namely, those that support salience detection, attentional control and self-referential cognition. We suggest novel research directions and offer recommendations for the application of neuroscience methods in the study of intrinsic motivation.

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Brain activity during the flow experience: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

Cited by 70 publications

References 30 publications

Neural Basis of Video Gaming: A Systematic Review

Neural Basis of Video Gaming: A Systematic Review

Real‐time monitoring prefrontal activities during online video game playing by functional near‐infrared spectroscopy

The Emerging Neuroscience of Intrinsic Motivation: A New Frontier in Self-Determination Research

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