Gaming and Cognition

Much of the discourse on video games in the media has focused on its implications on violence. While this is certainly an interesting avenue, this post will look at the impact of controlled experiments on cognitive control and addiction.

One of the more recent, influential papers in this field was published by Anguera et al. (2013), in which the impact of video games on the cognitive control of older adults was examined. Evaluated through a multitasking paradigm, the researchers established that while the ability to multitask decreases after one leaves their 20s, and continues to do so until old age and eventually death, playing a video game designed by the researchers to improve plasticity in study participants (called NeuroRacer) was able to increase the participant’s ability to multitask, thereby enhancing cognitive control. Plasticity here is evaluated by the ability to perform these multitasking activities, however it is generally used to describe the reorganization of synaptic connections in the brain. While this paper was used in a more therapeutic context, it is likely that when video games contain the same or similar elements to this designed game, similar effects can be observed.

What is NeuroRacer, and does it compare to video games found on the market today? Given the enormous variety in the types and genres of games that exist today, it is difficult to definitively say, and even more so whether one game is necessarily more “productive” than another. NeuroRacer trains the user on a multitasking driving simulation—having to obey the signage presented on a screen alongside maintaining the cognitive capacity to drive the vehicle. As the participant gets better at the game, the task gradually becomes more difficult, requiring the user to apply the fundamental skills they have learned early on to a more cognitively intensive situation. Interestingly, to avoid frustration and maximize the engagement with the game, an ‘adaptive staircase algorithm’ was employed, which alters the level of difficulty depending on how the player is doing (i.e., making it either easier or more difficult, without having them lose interest out of boredom or frustration).

This active engagement with media is the defining feature of video games and can be seen to varying degrees (e.g., more narrative-driven games, like visual novels, will vastly differ in engagement to a first-person shooter, platform game or role-playing game). Indeed, there are examples of games today out on the market whose players have been found to exhibit a greater degree of executive control, allowing a greater use of complex cognitive abilities. For example, a study involving individuals who played the incredibly popular MOBA game League of Legends, published by Xiangqian et al. (2020), found that individuals in the top 0.17% of top-ranked players in the game “[had] better cognitive flexibility and more accurate control of interference in the context of task-switching” when compared to ‘average-ranked players’—all indicative of greater cognitive control and impulsive control. Seeing as the game itself rewards players who are better able to task-switch and/or have greater cognitive flexibility, it is difficult to say whether the game necessarily helped improve the players in these areas, however, it would be interesting to see the research that leads us to answer these questions.

Another large body of literature has been dedicated to ‘problematic gaming’—addictions that result from video games. This is a huge field, so some papers have been linked below for anyone interested in learning more.

Additional Links:

• Video gaming in a hyperconnected world: A cross-sectional study of heavy gaming, problematic gaming symptoms, and online socializing in adolescents
• Will esports result in a higher prevalence of problematic gaming? A review of the global situation
• Testing men’s hormone responses to playing League of Legends: No changes in testosterone, cortisol, DHEA or androstenedione but decreases in aldosterone