Table 4.
Studies providing structural data dealing with VG experts or excessive gaming.
| Ref. | Year | N | Age | Sample | VG experience | VG genre | Technique | Design | Neural correlates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Han et al., 2012a | 2012 | 55 | 20.9 ± 2.0 (IGD) 20.8 ± 1.5 (Pro) 20.9 ± 2.1 (Control) |
Young adults, male | IGD (9.0 ± 3.7 h/day) Professional VGP (9.4 ± 1.6 h/day) Low or Non-VGP (1.0 ± 0.7 h/day) |
Real time strategy | MRI | Quasi-experimental (with control group) | IGD vs. Control: ▴ Thalamus GM (left) ▾ ITG (bilateral) ▾ MOG (right) ▾ IOG (left) Professional vs. Control: ▴ CG (left) ▾ MOG (left) ▾ ITG (right) Professional vs. IGD: ▴ CG (left) ▾ Thalamus (left) |
| Hou et al., 2012* | 2012 | 14 | 20.40 ± 2.30 (IGD) 20.44 ± 1.13 (Control) |
Young adults | IGD (>8 h/day) Low or Non-VGP (<5 h/day) |
– | SPECT | Quasi-experimental (with control group) | IGD vs. Control: ▾ Striatum volume ▾ Striatum weight ▾ Striatum/whole brain ratio |
| Hyun et al., 2013 | 2013 | 23 | 19.8 ± 1.7 | Healthy young adults, male | Professional VGP (9.2 ± 1.6 h/day) | Real time strategy | MRI | Quasi-experimental | Career length: ▴ SFG (right) ▴ SPG (right) ▴ PrCG (right) Winning rates: ▴ PFC |
| Tanaka et al., 2013 | 2013 | 50 | 24.1 ± 2.9 (Experts) 22.4 ± 3.42 (Control) |
Healthy young adults, male | Expert VGP (21.4 ± 10.0 h/week) Low or Non-VGP (<2 h/week) |
Action, fighting | MRI | Quasi-experimental (with control group) | Experts vs. Non-experts: ▴ PPC (right) |
| Yuan et al., 2013a | 2013 | 36 | 19.4 ± 3.1 (IGD) 19.5 ± 2.8 (Control) |
Young adults, male | IGD (10.2 ± 2.6 h/day) Low or Non-VGP (0.8 ± 0.4 h/day) |
Role playing, MMORPG | MRI | Quasi-experimental (with control group) | IGD vs. Control: ▴ Precentral cortex (left) ▴ PCu ▴ MFG ▴ ITC ▴ MTG ▾ lOFC (left) (Impaired task performance) ▾ Insula ▾ Lingual gyrus ▾ PoCG (right) ▾ Entorhinal cortex ▾ IPC |
| IGD duration: ▴ Precentral cortex (left) ▴ PCu ▴ Lingual gyrus |
|||||||||
| Xing et al., 2014 | 2014 | 34 | 19.1 ± 0.7 (IGD) 19.8 ± 1.3 (Control) |
Young adults | IGD (9.5 ± 1.3 h/day; 65.7 ± 11.6 IAT) Control (2.2 ± 1.4 h/day; 29.2 ± 4.5 IAT) |
Action, Real time strategy | MRI (DTI) | Quasi-experimental (with control group) | IGD vs. Control (FA): ▾ SN tract (right) |
| Gong et al., 2015* | 2015 | 57 | 23.26 ± 0.4 (Experts) 22.36 ± 0.38 (Amateurs) |
Healthy young adults | Expert VGP (46.67 ± 2.1 h/week) Amateur VGP (14.2 ± 1.1 h/week) |
Action, Real time strategy | MRI | Quasi-experimental (with control group) | Experts vs. Amateurs): ▴ Insula (left) ▴ Short insular gyri ▴ Long insular gyrus ▴ Central sulcus |
| Jin et al., 2016* | 2016 | 46 | 19.12 ± 1.05 (IGD) 18.76 ± 1.81 (Control) |
Adolescents | IGD (5.32 ± 2.10 h/day) Low or Non-VGP (2.07 ± 1.39 h/day) |
Action, Real time strategy | MRI | Quasi-experimental (with control group) | IGD vs. Control: ▾ dlPFC ▾ OFC ▾ ACC ▾ SMA (right) |
ACC, Anterior cingulate cortex; CG, Cingulate gyrus; dlPFC, Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; DTI, Diffusion tensor imaging; FA, Fractional anisotropy; GM, Gray matter; IGD, Internet gaming disorder; IOG, Inferior occipital gyrus; IPC, Inferior parietal cortex; ITC, Inferior temporal cortex; lOFC, Lateral orbitofrontal cortex; MFG, Middle frontal gyrus; MMORPG, Massively multiplayer online role-playing game; MOG, Middle occipital gyrus; MRI, Magnetic resonance imaging; MTG, Middle temporal cortex; OFC, Orbitofrontal cortex; PCu, Precuneus; PFC, Prefrontal cortex; PoCG, Post-central gyrus; PPC, Posterior parietal cortex; PrCG, Pre-central gyrus; SFG, Superior frontal gyrus; SMA, Supplementary motor area; SN, Salience network; SPECT, Single-photon emission computed tomography; SPG, Superior parietal gyrus; VGP, Video game player. Articles marked with an asterisk
discuss cognitive implications without directly assessing this dimension. Articles marked with a double asterisk
(**) did not provide either empirical cognitive data nor discuss cognitive implications. The rest of the articles (non-marked) have measured cognitive correlates with specific tasks.