Effects of computer gaming on cognition, brain structure, and function: a critical reflection on existing literature

Kühn, Simone; Gallinat, Jürgen; Mascherek, Anna

doi:10.31887/dcns.2019.21.3/skuehn

Cited by 35 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 54 publications

(80 reference statements)

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“…Our videogame might, indeed, account for a useable screening tool for precisely estimating IPS functioning in pwMS. Video gaming is a popular form of leisure activity and its effect on cognition, as well as its usability in cognitive assessment, monitoring, and rehabilitation, has come into increasing interest in the past few years [ 14 , 41 ]. Future studies should emphasize the high potential that might derive from the adoption of computerized assessment tools in clinical practice in pwMS, especially with reference to monitoring disease progression over time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual-Attentional Load Unveils Slowed Processing Speed in Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Pilot Study with a Tablet-Based Videogame

et al. 2020

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Slowing in information processing speed (IPS) is the key cognitive deficit in multiple sclerosis (MS). Testing IPS in different cognitive load conditions by using computerized tools might reveal initial IPS slowness underestimated by classic paper-and-pencil tests. To investigate the extent to which IPS can be affected by increased task demands, we developed three tasks based on the manipulation of the visual-attentional load, delivered with a home-made, tablet-based videogame. Fifty-one patients with MS (pwMS), classified as having no cognitive impairment in classic paper-and-pencil tests, and 20 healthy controls (HC) underwent the videogame tasks; reaction times (RTs) and accuracy were recorded. A significant reduced performance of pwMS as compared with HC was found on the videogame tasks, with pwMS being on average slower and less accurate than HC. Furthermore, pwMS showed a significantly more pronounced decrement in accuracy as a function of the visual-attentional load, suggesting a higher susceptibility to increased task demands. Significant correlations among the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) and the videogame mean RTs and accuracy were found, providing evidence for the concurrent validity of the videogame as a valid tool to test IPS in pwMS. The high potential that might derive from the adoption of computerized assessment tools in clinical practice should be taken into consideration and investigated further.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual-Attentional Load Unveils Slowed Processing Speed in Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Pilot Study with a Tablet-Based Videogame

et al. 2020

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“…According to our literature search (see also the recent reviews by Firth et al, 2019; Kühn et al, 2019), there are only seven studies on the association of video gaming and brain structure or function in healthy individuals. All these studies (reviewed below) had adolescents or young adults as participants.…”

Section: Video Gaming and The Brainmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More specifically, we review how these activities affect cognitive functions and the brain in adolescence and early adulthood. Our review builds on related review articles (Firth et al, 2019; Kühn et al, 2019; Uncapher & Wagner, 2018) by including even more recent brain-imaging studies. To find these studies, we used the search terms multitasking / gaming and brain / MRI (MRI refers to magnetic resonance imaging, the most common brain-imaging method) at https://scholar.google.com and then ensured that the studied participants were healthy adolescents or young adults.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Media Multitasking and Video Gaming on Cognitive Functions and Their Neural Bases in Adolescents and Young Adults

Alho

Moisala

Salmela‐Aro

2022

European Psychologist

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Abstract. The increasing use of digital technology among adolescents and young adults has led to concerns about possible detrimental effects on cognitive and brain functions. Indeed, as reviewed here, according to behavioral and brain-imaging studies, excessive media multitasking (i.e., using different digital media in parallel) may lead to enhanced distractibility and problems in maintaining attention. However, frequent video gaming may be beneficial for the development of working memory, task switching, and attention skills. All these cognitive skills depend on executive cognitive functions. Still scant but gradually cumulating brain-imaging results suggest that the negative effects of frequent media multitasking and the positive effects of frequent video gaming on cognitive skills in adolescents and young adults are mediated by effects on the frontal lobes, implicated in executive cognitive functions and still developing even through early adulthood.

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“…Studies on cognitive training have tested whether there are cognitive benefits associated with video gaming. Evidence of cognitive enhancement is robust when referring to visual attention [ 2 , 3 ] but is mixed when referring to higher cognitive functions, such as action inhibition and set-shifting [ 4 ]. These latter skills are part of executive function (EF), the ability that controls and regulates goal-directed behavior [ 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-Term Touch-Screen Video Game Playing Improves the Inhibition Ability

Qiu

Chen

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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There is mixed evidence regarding whether video games affect executive function. The inconsistent results in this area may have to do with researchers’ conceptualizations of executive function as a unified construct or as a set of independent skills. In the current study, 120 university students were randomly assigned to play a video game or to watch a screen record of the video game. They then completed a series of behavioral tasks to assess the shifting, updating and inhibiting subcomponents of executive function. Scores on these tasks were also used as indicators of a component-general latent variable. Results based on analysis of covariance showed that, as predicted, the inhibition subcomponent, but not the updating or the shifting subcomponent, was significantly enhanced after gaming. The component-general executive function was not enhanced after gaming once the results were controlled for other subcomponents. The results were unrelated to participants’ self-reported positive and negative affect. The findings add key evidence to the literature on executive function and potentially contribute to the therapeutic use of video games to maintain executive function in the aged population.

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Effects of computer gaming on cognition, brain structure, and function: a critical reflection on existing literature

Cited by 35 publications

References 54 publications

Visual-Attentional Load Unveils Slowed Processing Speed in Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Pilot Study with a Tablet-Based Videogame

Visual-Attentional Load Unveils Slowed Processing Speed in Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Pilot Study with a Tablet-Based Videogame

Effects of Media Multitasking and Video Gaming on Cognitive Functions and Their Neural Bases in Adolescents and Young Adults

Short-Term Touch-Screen Video Game Playing Improves the Inhibition Ability

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