Written by Sarya Güleç
Video games are one of the most controversial topics today. Its positive and negative sides are often argued, particularly when the scope reaches to addiction..The majority of video game players consists of young adults, yet a notable portion of adults are also a part of the sphere, so it is important to know its effects on you.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends kids under two shouldn’t have any screen time, and kids ages 2 to 5 should get an hour or less of screen time per weekday and three hours on the weekend day.
But a recent study of 2200 kids discovered that kids who plays more than 21 hours a week have performed better than non-gamers when they were tested for impulsive behavior and memorization.In fact, researchers observed gamers had more activity than non-gamers in regions of their brains that were associated with attention and memory. Yet, it is important to acknowledge that the direct effects of videogames on kids are still unknown.
Some studies also argue that video games improve focus and visuomotor abilities like hand-eye coordination as they include certain tasks that require attention. A meta-analysis has shown that among the different kinds of video games, action games have the most effect on attention.
Since playing video games often demands rapid use of sensory information and repeated precision decisions, decision making tasks are important for investigating the effect of video game playing.
In long-term players, neural networks related to visuospatial skills have been observed with structural volume enlargements of the right hippocampus. The entorhinal cortex, associated with navigational skills which together with the hippocampus is involved in spatial memory, was also correlated with lifetime experience in logic/puzzle and platform video games (5).
During a video game play, some prefrontal cortex regions increase their activation as a response to the cognitive demands(game difficulty) and display a positive correlation with the performance measures. Prefrontal activity is not only affected by the complexity of the task, but also by the nature of the task and the individual differences of the participants (5).
Some research groups have found deactivation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(dlPFC) during a game play (5). A logical explanation to this might be the interference effect of attentional resources during visual stimuli, since activity in the dlPFC remained stable while passively watching a video game, but not while actively playing it.
Video games can cause addiction like stimulants. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders added the term “internet gaming disorder” in 2013, and current evidence suggests that video game addiction is similar to other well-established addictions related to substance use disorders. This phenomena can be explained by referring to the connection between anatomical regions and their functions-- respectively the same parts of your brain, specifically those that release dopamine, are activated when you have any addiction.
Studies suggest that gaming disorder affects only 3.05% of the world’s population. However, people who partake in gaming should be cognizant of the amount of time they spend on gaming activities, particularly when if it lead to an alteration in activities of daily living as well as changes in their physical or psychological health and social functioning that could be attributed to their pattern of gaming behavior(3).
Video games are also cited as a cause of violence. Studies say video games can increase a person’s aggressive thoughts, feelings and behaviors. A research group from Iowa State University made a study involving 227 college students who completed a measure of trait aggressiveness and reported their actual aggressive behaviors (delinquency) in the recent past. They also reported their video game playing habits (6). "We found that students who reported playing more violent video games in junior and high school engaged in more aggressive behavior," said the researchers.
Furthermore, violent video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because they are interactive, very engrossing and, require the player to identify with the aggressor, say the researchers.
Researchers observed that ,generally, regular gamers have been habituated to violence exposure and show less lateral prefrontal activation, linked to limbic down-regulation, compared to non-gamers. However, gamers have not lost the ability to distinguish real from virtual violence, although that also depended on each person's learning history.
References:
Are video games good for you? (2022, November 15). Cleveland Clinic. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/are-video-games-good-for-you/
Jordan, T., & Dhamala, M. (2022, June 22). Video game players have improved decision-making abilities and enhanced brain activities. Science Direct. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666956022000368
Gaming disorder. (n.d.). World Health Organization (WHO). https://www.who.int/standards/classifications/frequently-asked-questions/gaming-disorder
Kühn, S., Gallinat, J., & Mascherek, A. (2019, September 21). Effects of computer gaming on cognition, brain structure, and function: A critical reflection on existing literature. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6829166/
Palaus, M., Marron, E. M., Viejo-Sobera, R., & Redolar-Ripoll, D. (2017, March 22). Neural basis of video gaming: A systematic review. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5438999/
Violent video games can increase aggression. (2000, April 23). https://www.apa.org. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2000/04/video-games
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