Earlier Visual N1 Latencies in Expert Video-Game Players: A Temporal Basis of Enhanced Visuospatial Performance?

Latham, Andrew James; Patston, Lucy L. M.; Westermann, Christine; Kirk, Ian J.; Tippett, Lynette J.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0075231

Cited by 20 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(65 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This is consistent with electroencephalogram evidence, which has established that, compared to nVGPs, individuals who played video games before the age of 10 showed earlier N1 latencies (an event-related potential reflecting faster discrimination of visual stimuli), suggesting a more efficient operation of visual attentional resources (Latham, Patston, Westermann, Kirk, & Tippett, 2013). Similarly, developmental studies have demonstrated that cognitive plasticity and traininginduced cognitive improvements generally decline with age (e.g., Baltes & Kliegl, 1992).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

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

Hartanto

Toh

Yang

2016

Atten Percept Psychophys

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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...

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

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

Hartanto

Toh

Yang

2016

Atten Percept Psychophys

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…While the performance of experienced-VGPs was consistent with previous research (e.g. Latham et al 2013cLatham et al , 2014, the performance of non-VGPs performance was not. This might indicate the leftvisual-field performance bias is not entirely typical of the general population.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Simon-Task Reveals Balanced Visuomotor Control in Experienced Video-Game Players

et al. 2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Both short and long-term video-game play may result in superior performance on visual and attentional tasks. To further these findings, we compared the performance of experienced male video-game players (VGPs) and non-VGPs on a Simon-task. Experienced-VGPs began playing before the age of 10, had a minimum of 8 years of experience and a minimum play time of over 20 h per week over the past 6 months. Our results reveal a significantly reduced Simon-effect in experienced-VGPs relative to non-VGPs. However, this was true only for the right-responses, which typically show a greater Simon-effect than leftresponses. In addition, experienced-VGPs demonstrated significantly quicker reaction times and more balanced left-versusright-hand performance than non-VGPs. Our results suggest that experienced-VGPs can resolve response-selection conflicts more rapidly for right-responses than non-VGPs, and this may in part be underpinned by improved bimanual motor control.

show abstract

“…Earlier N100 latencies in the visual pathways are another feature found in long-term VGPs, which may contribute to faster response times in visual tasks after years of practice (Latham et al, 2013). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural Basis of Video Gaming: A Systematic Review

Palaus

Marrón

Viejo-Sobera

et al. 2017

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

195

151

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Earlier Visual N1 Latencies in Expert Video-Game Players: A Temporal Basis of Enhanced Visuospatial Performance?

Cited by 20 publications

References 44 publications

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

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

Simon-Task Reveals Balanced Visuomotor Control in Experienced Video-Game Players

Neural Basis of Video Gaming: A Systematic Review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About