The effect of video games, exergames and board games on executive functions in kindergarten and 2nd grade: An explorative longitudinal study

We examined the relation between different kinds of play behavior (video games, exergames, board games) in kindergarten (T1) and components of executive function (EF; inhibition, switching, verbal and visuospatial updating) in kindergarten and second grade (T1 and T2). Ninety-seven children participated in this longitudinal study. Parents were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding children's play behavior, reporting frequency, duration, and game type. The results indicate that play behavior is associated with EF development in children; however, only exergames, electronic puzzle games, and board games predicted EF at T2. Additionally, the time spent on electronic games was negatively related to visuospatial updating at T1 but did not predict EF at T2. The results support further investigation of a potential link between board game and exergame play behavior and EF development

The Effect of Aerobic Fitness on Visuospatial Attention in Young Adults

The recently popular commercial brain- and visual-training programs have become a multimillion dollar industry with claims to enhance various cognitive functions. Although no empirical evidence directly supports the efficacy of these programs, sport expertise has been shown to influence cognition, lending indirect support for training efficacy. However, researchers investigating attention and sport expertise have not previously controlled for level of physical activity, which may also contribute to enhanced cognitive processes. Prior studies have shown strong correlations exist between physical fitness and cognition in both children and older adults. Yet, few studies have examined this relation in young adults, and no studies have examined the effect of aerobic fitness on cognition while controlling for sport participation and action video game playing habits. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which aerobic fitness relates to visuospatial attention performance in young adults while controlling other factors. A secondary purpose was to identify a potential physiological mechanism underlying the relation between exercise and cognition. Heart rate variability has been linked to both aerobic fitness and cognitive performance and was used in this study. Thirty-five healthy adults (ages 18-29) participated. Data collection included submaximal VO2max, BMI, motivation, sport involvement, performance on two visual attention tasks, and heart rate variability. BMI, motivation, and sport involvement did not significantly correlate with aerobic fitness and were excluded from further statistical analyses. Contrary to our hypothesis, performance on the attention tasks did not significantly correlate with aerobic fitness while controlling for sport participation (MOT: r = .120, p = .250; CVAT: r = .166, p = .174). Heart rate variability also did not significantly correlate with visual attention (SD: r = .064, p = .375; LF/HF: r = - .312, p = .057). The findings of this study did not support a relation between aerobic fitness and visual attention in young adults. The effect of chronic exercise on cognition may be more apparent in children and older adults who are still cognitively developing or experiencing age-related cognitive declines. To improve visual attention in young adults, more study is required to determine the efficacy of `brain\u27 training

Executive Functions, Motor Development, and Digital Games Applied to Elementary School Children: A Systematic Mapping Study

Studies show that executive functions and motor development are associated with each other and with learning ability. A more technological lifestyle combined with digital culture should be considered a viable alternative to stimulate children’s development. Therefore, this study aimed to present a systematic mapping of the literature involving executive functions, motor development, and the use of digital games in intervention programs for elementary school children from 6 to 11 years old. Four databases were researched: PubMed, Scielo, Science Direct, and SCOPUS, including publications between 2012 and March 2021. The initial results indicated 4881 records. After the selection process, 15 manuscripts that presented the central theme of the study were selected. The main results indicated that intervention strategies are rather heterogeneous. Most of the studies demonstrated efficient results after intervention protocols, many of them were conducted in Europe, and 46% occurred in a school environment. No research was identified involving technological solutions using executive functions, motor development, and digital games in an integrated manner. Hence, this constitutes a field of future scientific research.N/

Video game training does not enhance cognitive ability: a comprehensive meta-analytic investigation

As a result of considerable potential scientific and societal implications, the possibility of enhancing cognitive ability by training has been one of the most influential topics of cognitive psychology in the last two decades. However, substantial research into the psychology of expertise and a recent series of meta-analytic reviews have suggested that various types of cognitive training (e.g., working memory training) benefit performance only in the trained tasks. The lack of skill generalization from one domain to different ones-that is, far transfer- has been documented in various fields of research such as working memory training, music, brain training, and chess. Video game training is another activity that has been claimed by many researchers to foster a broad range of cognitive abilities such as visual processing, attention, spatial ability, and cognitive control. We tested these claims with three randomeffects meta-analytic models. The first meta-analysis (k = 310) examined the correlation between video game skill and cognitive ability. The second meta-analysis (k = 315) dealt with the differences between video game players and nonplayers in cognitive ability. The third meta-analysis (k = 359) investigated the effects of video game training on participants' cognitive ability. Small or null overall effect sizes were found in all three models. These outcomes show that overall cognitive ability and video game skill are only weakly related. Importantly, we found no evidence of a causal relationship between playing video games and enhanced cognitive ability. Video game training thus represents no exception to the general difficulty of obtaining far transfer

NeuroGame: neural mechanisms underlying cognitive improvement in video gamers

The video game market represents an influential and profitable industry. But concerns have been raised how video games impact on the human mind. There are reservations that video gaming may be addictive and foster aggressive behaviour. In contrast, a convincing body of research indicates that playing video games may improve cognitive processing. The exact mechanism thereof is not entirely understood. Most research suggests that video games train individuals in learning how to employ attentional control to focus on processing relevant information, while being able to suppress irrelevant information. Thus, video game players acquire the ability of being able to develop strategies to process information more efficiently. However, no algorithmic solution therefore has been provided yet. Thus, it is not clear which and how attentional control functions contribute to these effects. Moreover, neural mechanisms thereof are not well understood. We hypothesized that alterations in alpha power, i.e., modulations in brain oscillatory activity around 10 Hz, represent a promising neural substrate of video gaming effects. This was because, alpha activity represents an established neural correlate of attention processing given that its amplitude modulation corresponds to alterations in information processing. We investigated this by relating differential cognitive processing in video game players to changes in alpha power modulation. Moreover, we tried to imitate this effect using non-invasive brain stimulation. We were successful in achieving the former but not the latter. We provide a reasonable explanation for this. Thus, our results mostly support our hypothesis according to which altered alpha power may account for gaming effects

Improving cognition in school children and adolescents through exergames. A systematic review and practical guide

Recent studies and reviews have shown the positive effects of exergames (EXs) on physical activity (PA) and fitness in children and adolescents. Nevertheless, their effects on cognition have been scarcely explored, and no previous review has focussed on this relationship. The purpose of the research reported on here was to analyse the acute and chronic effects of the use of different EXs on the cognition of young people aged 6 to 18 years, to review potential confounders, and to elaborate a practical guide to using EXs in schools or extracurricular contexts. Studies were identified from 4 databases (Pubmed, SportDiscus, ProQuest and Web of Science) from January 2008 through January 2018. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. All the studies showed a positive effect of EXs on cognition. The review showed an acute improvement effect on executive functions (EFs) (visual attention, mental processing, working memory, response inhibition, and motor planning) and chronic benefits on mathematical calculation, self-concept, classroom behaviour, and on parental and interpersonal relationships. Only 5 studies used confounders. EXs are an effective and motivating tool to improve cognition in young people aged 6 to 18 years. Didactic recommendations to use EXs in school or extracurricular contexts are provided in this article. Keywords: academic performance; active video games; acute and chronic effects; cognitive performance; executive functions;  exergames; learning; motivation; physical activity; physical educatio

The time loss effect in gaming: an exploration of gamers' time perception from a dual-process perspective

Gaming Disorder has been included in the 11th revision of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases as a recurrent gaming behaviour with a lack of control from the gamer. One important aspect of gaming disorder, and gaming in general, is the time loss effect which can be defined as the underestimation of the time spent on an activity (i.e., gaming in this case). Since this process may lead the gamers to experience multiple negative consequences (e.g., conflicts with education and occupation, relationship problems, etc.) due to the increased time spent on videogames, the main objective of this thesis was to explore a potential underlying mechanism of time loss: time perception. This thesis contributed to knowledge by (i) systematically reviewing the variables commonly associated with both gaming (i.e., healthy and disordered) and time perception, allowing a deeper understanding of these two variables’ interaction; (ii) testing the Dual-Process Contingency Model of time perception within durations above one minute; (iii) testing both the prospective and retrospective time perception of the gamers in comparison to non-gamers in a neutral setting; and (iv) testing how emotion and cognition affect the gamers’ retrospective time perception. The new primary data from this thesis were collected using quantitative approaches, utilizing both experimental (i.e., computer tasks) and psychometric (i.e., online survey) data collection. These data from three experimental studies and one psychometric study were analysed through multiple types of analysis such as ANOVAs, regressions, or general linear models. The results first indicated that the Dual-Process Contingency Model of time perception, unifying RTP and PTP, was not valid for longer time durations. Second, the results showed that the gamers exhibited a better PTP (but a similar RTP) than non-gamers when estimating time in a neutral setting. However, the gamers underestimated time when processing gaming pictures, this effect being stronger when the task to complete was more complicated. In conclusion, it appears from the studies carried out that the reason underlying the observed time loss effect experienced by gamers was impaired retrospective time perception occurring when aroused by gaming stimuli

Exploring the Touch and Motion Features in Game-Based Cognitive Assessments

Early detection of cognitive decline is important for timely intervention and treatment strategies to prevent further deterioration or development of more severe cognitive impairment, as well as identify at risk individuals for research. In this paper, we explore the feasibility of using data collected from built-in sensors of mobile phone and gameplay performance in mobile-game-based cognitive assessments. Twenty-two healthy participants took part in the two-session experiment where they were asked to take a series of standard cognitive assessments followed by playing three popular mobile games in which user-game interaction data were passively collected. The results from bivariate analysis reveal correlations between our proposed features and scores obtained from paper-based cognitive assessments. Our results show that touch gestural interaction and device motion patterns can be used as supplementary features on mobile game-based cognitive measurement. This study provides initial evidence that game related metrics on existing off-the-shelf games have potential to be used as proxies for conventional cognitive measures, specifically for visuospatial function, visual search capability, mental flexibility, memory and attention

Investigating the modulation of cognition and event-related potentials relating to visual attention, working memory, and executive control in habitual videogame players

The overall objective of this thesis was to produce a document that investigated whether habitual videogame playing modulated cognitive processes related to visual processing and where in the processing stream these modulations occur. In this thesis, the term ‘cognitive modulation’ refers to any neurological differences (as identified through ERP) between videogame players and non-videogame players that theoretically may have been a result of videogame playing. Using this method, I am able to ascertain whether differences between the two groups are observed in early sensory ERPs, in which case VGPs might possess an advantage in bottom-up visual processing, later selective attention which might indicate alterations in top-down attentional processing, motor-response waveforms that may indicate difference in stimulus response mappings, and finally any differences in working memory capacity that might be the underlying cause of supposed attentional differences. An example of cognitive modulation was observed by Wu et al., (2012) and discussed in more detail in the introduction of this thesis. Indeed these modulations should also be accompanied by a behavioural difference between the two groups. As ERP was the primary source of neurophysiological recordings in this thesis, modulations could occur in the amplitude, mean activity, or peak latency of ERP waveforms.The paradigms employed in this thesis were chosen and designed so that in combination they provide a measure of potential cognitive modulation across the entire processing stream. That is, from early sensory ERPs, through selective attentional ERPs, including executive control ERPs and concluding at ERPs related to motor response priming. As these studies primarily focused on attentional processes, an ERP chapter towards the end of this thesis was included to identify whether any modulations in attentional ERPs were an indirect result of modulated working memory.Chapters 2 and 3 in this thesis focus on attentional control, resources, and the inhibitory processes of attention. Specifically, these chapters related to the attentional control each group employed when being presented with distracting items. Indeed, I observed modulated cognitive processes in chapter 3 related inhibitory processing in both attention and executive control related processes. In addition to this, the flanker task in Chapter 3 also allowed me to measure and modulation in motor priming between videogame players and non-videogame players.Chapters 4 and 5 looked more closely at ERPs related to selective attention such as the N2pc and P3, alongside early sensory ERPs (N1, P1, etc.). In response to observing differences in how each group processed distractors (related to the N2pc in Chapter 4), Chapter 5 employed a very specific test in order to split the N2pc into its component parts to further investigate whether any cognitive modulation between groups was a result of altered priority on processing targets or inhibiting distractors.Chapter 6 in this thesis sought to identify whether any differences observed in the attentional processing stream was actually the result of modulations in working memory, a cognitive process theoretically closely related to selective attention. Chapter 6 measured the contralateral delay activity, a neurological waveform that correlates with items held in visual working memory.Chapter 7 provided further exploratory psychophysical testing to identify whether any potential behavioural between-group differences extend beyond the usual visual field our groups would play videogames in. This involved testing the crowding phenomenon whereby participants are unable to identify a stimulus when closely flanked by distractors.This these concludes with Chapter 8, an overall discussion of each chapters results and how these theoretically synthesise with one another in relation to the two objectives of this thesis; does videogame playing modulate cognitive, and where in the attentional processing stream does this occur