Cognitive enhancement in video game players: The role of video game genre

Kang

Journal of Neuroscience

et al. 2015

Visual perceptual learning (VPL) is defined as long-term improvement in performance on a visual-perception task after visual experiences or training. Early studies have found that VPL is highly specific for the trained feature and location, suggesting that VPL is associated with changes in the early visual cortex. However, the generality of visual skills enhancement attributable to action video-game experience suggests that VPL can result from improvement in higher cognitive skills. If so, experience in real-time strategy (RTS) video-game play, which may heavily involve cognitive skills, may also facilitate VPL. To test this hypothesis, we compared VPL between RTS video-game players (VGPs) and non-VGPs (NVGPs) and elucidated underlying structural and functional neural mechanisms. Healthy young human subjects underwent six training sessions on a texture discrimination task. Diffusion-tensor and functional magnetic resonance imaging were performed before and after training. VGPs performed better than NVGPs in the early phase of training. White-matter connectivity between the right external capsule and visual cortex and neuronal activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were greater in VGPs than NVGPs and were significantly correlated with RTS video-game experience. In both VGPs and NVGPs, there was task-related neuronal activity in the right IFG, ACC, and striatum, which was strengthened after training. These results indicate that RTS video-game experience, associated with changes in higher-order cognitive functions and connectivity between visual and cognitive areas, facilitates VPL in early phases of training. The results support the hypothesis that VPL can occur without involvement of only visual areas.

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 50%

Real-Time Strategy Video Game Experience and Visual Perceptual Learning

Kang

Journal of Neuroscience

et al. 2015

Atten Percept Psychophys

“…EVGPs' advantage in switch costs is consistent with a wealth of research demonstrating a general trend in lowered switch costs for VGPs (e.g., Colzato et al, 2010;Dobrowolski, Hanusz, Sobczyk, Skorko, & Wiatrow, 2015;Green et al, 2012), which implies superior transient control processes for the selection and activation of relevant task goals and for reconfiguring stimulus-response mappings. The reduced switch costs seen in EVGPs could be attributed to their prolonged immersion in the dynamic environment inherent to many video-game genres.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

“…However, this is unlikely because we recruited participants who played either realtime strategy or action video games rather than games that are highly repetitive in nature (e.g., FarmVille). Moreover, a previous study showed that players who favored these genres did not show discrepancies in task-switching performance (Dobrowolski et al, 2015). Another question arises as to whether the onset age of active video-game play can reliably capture video-game expertise, as some players who played actively at an early age could be presently inactive.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age matters: The effect of onset age of video game play on task-switching abilities

Hartanto

Toh

Yang

2016

Although prior research suggests that playing video games can improve cognitive abilities, recent empirical studies cast doubt on such findings (Unsworth et al., 2015). To reconcile these inconsistent findings, we focused on the link between video games and task switching. Furthermore, we conceptualized video-game expertise as the onset age of active video-game play rather than the frequency of recent gameplay, as it captures both how long a person has played video games and whether the individual began playing during periods of high cognitive plasticity. We found that the age of active onset better predicted switch and mixing costs than did frequency of recent gameplay; specifically, players who commenced playing video games at an earlier age reaped greater benefits in terms of task switching than did those who started at a later age. Moreover, improving switch costs required a more extensive period of video-game experience than did mixing costs; this finding suggests that certain cognitive abilities benefit from different amounts of video game experience.Keywords Task switching . Video game . Onset age of active video game play . Switch costs . Mixing costs . Executive functions Video games are a ubiquitous entertainment medium, with an estimated 40 % of adults and 83 % of teenagers in the United States playing them regularly (Williams, Yee, & Caplan, 2008). Video games often present players with challenging situations that necessitate strategic monitoring, coordination of multiple task demands, and goal prioritization. For instance, first-person shooter games require players to tactically navigate a three-dimensional environment while eliminating multiple enemy targets that appear at random. Similarly, realtime strategy games typically immerse players in war-like scenarios requiring simultaneous management of several tasks, such as constructing edifices and deploying combat units to secure areas of a map or to invade and destroy opponents' territories and units. Success in such games requires continual tracking of various goals and the ability to shift flexibly from one task to another in the face of changing environmental demands. Therefore, an interesting question arises as to whether extensive video-game experience could facilitate task-switching performance (e.g., Cain, Landau, & Shimamura, 2012;Green, Sugarman, Medford, Klobusicky, & Bavelier, 2012).Task switching is the ability to shift back and forth between multiple tasks or mental sets (Monsell, 2003). The efficiency of task switching can be empirically measured using taskswitching paradigms, which yield two performance indicators: switch costs and mixing costs (Rubin & Meiran, 2005). Switch costs refer to the slower responses observed in taskswitch trials than in task-repeat trials, whereas mixing costs refer to the slower responses in task-repeat trials in mixed-task blocks than in task-repeat trials in pure blocks (Rubin & Meiran). These two costs reflect distinct control mechanisms in task-switching performance: namely, switch costs are...

“…We assume that the video game-based training efficacy might be ensured by video game characteristics that are close to the cognitive outcome of interest (Lampit et al, 2014). A study concluded that different genres of video games may not have equal positive effects on the same cognitive aspect (Dobrowolski et al, 2015). The current video games included cues that specifically trained divided attention, inhibition (go/no-go), set-shifting, and working memory.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptations of Prefrontal Brain Activity, Executive Functions, and Gait in Healthy Elderly Following Exergame and Balance Training: A Randomized-Controlled Study

Schättin

Arner

Gennaro

et al. 2016

Front. Aging Neurosci.

110

137

During aging, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) undergoes age-dependent neuronal changes influencing cognitive and motor functions. Motor-learning interventions are hypothesized to ameliorate motor and cognitive deficits in older adults. Especially, video game-based physical exercise might have the potential to train motor in combination with cognitive abilities in older adults. The aim of this study was to compare conventional balance training with video game-based physical exercise, a so-called exergame, on the relative power (RP) of electroencephalographic (EEG) frequencies over the PFC, executive function (EF), and gait performance. Twenty-seven participants (mean age 79.2 ± 7.3 years) were randomly assigned to one of two groups. All participants completed 24 trainings including three times a 30 min session/week. The EEG measurements showed that theta RP significantly decreased in favor of the exergame group [L(14) = 6.23, p = 0.007]. Comparing pre- vs. post-test, EFs improved both within the exergame (working memory: z = −2.28, p = 0.021; divided attention auditory: z = −2.51, p = 0.009; divided attention visual: z = −2.06, p = 0.040; go/no-go: z = −2.55, p = 0.008; set-shifting: z = −2.90, p = 0.002) and within the balance group (set-shifting: z = −2.04, p = 0.042). Moreover, spatio-temporal gait parameters primarily improved within the exergame group under dual-task conditions (speed normal walking: z = −2.90, p = 0.002; speed fast walking: z = −2.97, p = 0.001; cadence normal walking: z = −2.97, p = 0.001; stride length fast walking: z = −2.69, p = 0.005) and within the balance group under single-task conditions (speed normal walking: z = −2.54, p = 0.009; speed fast walking: z = −1.98, p = 0.049; cadence normal walking: z = −2.79, p = 0.003). These results indicate that exergame training as well as balance training positively influence prefrontal cortex activity and/or function in varying proportion.