The influence of video games on cognitive abilities and its neural basis

Qing LI An-Tao CHEN

Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2018, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (6) : 1318-1324.

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PDF(613 KB)
Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2018, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (6) : 1318-1324.

The influence of video games on cognitive abilities and its neural basis

  • Qing LI1,An-Tao CHEN2
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Abstract

Video game is a game which we play thanks to an audio-visual apparatus and which can be based on a story. Most of the previous studies focus on the impact of violent video games on individual negative behavior, such as aggression and violence. But this article explored the relationship between video game training and cognitive abilities, in view of attention, memory, executive control in cognitive activities, so that the public look at the impact of video games on individual psychology and behavior dialectically. It is worth noting that video game training has its own advantages. On the one hand, because video games are interesting, challenging and attractive, the motivation that individuals participate in video game training is significantly higher than other cognitive training. On the other hand, the transfer effect of video game training is better than that of other cognitive training. Therefore, researchers have taken video games as the focus of research. This article discussed the influence of video games on cognitive abilities and its neural basis from the perspective of behavioral and cognitive neuroscience. After analyzing previous studies, we found that video game training can improve individual cognitive abilities, such as attention, memory, executive control, and it can also significantly change the structure and function of the brain region, such as prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex and hippocampus. The changes of these brain areas are the important neural basis that video game training enhances cognitive abilities. In addition, according to previous studies and the features of video games, we constructed a model of the neural basis of video game training enhancing cognitive abilities, so that we can illustrate the regulatory role of neural basis and reward expectation on cognitive abilities in video game. Although the research on video game training has made some progress, there are still some problems to be further explored over the course of the study. At present, researchers usually divide video games into action video games and non action video games, but it is not clear what the specific basis of the classification is. And it needs to further explore whether different types of video games have different effects on the structure and function of the brain. Furthermore, how long the training effect of video game will be kept need to be further studied. At last, the scope of research objects need to be further expanded, and researchers should pay special attention to the adolescents. Therefore, future research should determine video game genres for specific cognitive ability, focus on the lasting effect of training, and expand the scope of research objects. Researchers need develop a standardized video game training standard. Based on the standardization of training processes, future research should focus on target brain regions affected by video game, and apply video game training to enhance specific brain function.

Key words

video game / cognitive abilities / neural basis / reward expectation

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Qing LI An-Tao CHEN. The influence of video games on cognitive abilities and its neural basis[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2018, 41(6): 1318-1324
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