Neural correlates of flow, boredom, and anxiety in gaming: An electroencephalogram study

Games are engaging and captivating from a human-computer interaction (HCI) perspective as they can facilitate a highly immersive experience. This research examines the neural correlates of flow, boredom, and anxiety during video gaming. A within-subject experimental study (N = 44) was carried out with the use of electroencephalogram (EEG) to assess the brain activity associated with three states of user experience - flow, boredom, and anxiety - in a controlled gaming environment. A video game, Tetris, was used to induce flow, boredom, and anxiety. A 64 channel EEG headset was used to track changes in activation patterns in the frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes of the players\u27 brains during the experiment. EEG signals were pre-processed and Fast Fourier Transformation values were extracted and analyzed. The results suggest that the EEG potential in the left frontal lobe is lower in the flow state than in the resting and boredom states. The occipital alpha is lower in the flow state than in the resting state. Similarly, the EEG theta in the left parietal lobe is lower during the flow state than the resting state. However, the EEG theta in the frontal-temporal region of the brain is higher in the flow state than in the anxiety state. The flow state is associated with low cognitive load, presence of attention levels, and loss of self-consciousness when compared to resting and boredom states --Abstract, page iii

Neural Correlates of States of User Experience in Gaming using EEG and Predictive Analytics

In this research, we will analyze EEG signals to obtain neural correlate classifications of user experience by applying predictive analytics. Boredom, flow, and anxiety are three states experienced by users interacting with a computer-based system. A within-subjects experiment was used to collect EEG data for these three states and a baseline. We will apply predictive analytics including linear regression, support vector machine, and neural networks to analyze and classify the EEG data for these three states of user experience

A Review on Neuropsychophysiological Correlates of Flow

Games are captivating from a human-computer interaction point of view. They can induce an intensely involving and engaging experience termed flow, which refers to the optimal state of experience when one is fully immersed in an activity. This paper provides a review of the neural and psychophysiological correlates of flow as well as some directions for future research

Neural Correlates of Flow Experience

An optimal experience, termed “flow,†has been experienced by users who are deeply involved in human-computer interaction. The most common and traditional approaches to assess user experience are self-reported measures (e.g., using questionnaires and interviews) that are typically retrospective in nature and could be subjected to biases (e.g., social desirability and recall biases). With advancements in technology, electroencephalogram (EEG) offers an alternative approach for assessing user experience. To identify EEG correlates of flow experience in an online gaming context, we conducted a laboratory experiment to capture EEG data for the flow and resting states of video game players and carried out data analysis to compare the EEG power of frequency bands between the flow and resting states. The results suggest that the flow state is manifested mainly in the left frontal region of the brain