Table 5.
Studies providing functional data dealing with healthy, non-expert participants, without violent content.
| Ref. | Year | N | Age | Sample | VG experience | VG genre | Technique | Design | Neural correlates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelley et al., 1992** | 1992 | 21 | 31.4 ± 7.8 | Healthy adults | – | Breakout | Doppler | Experimental (crossover) | VG play vs. Baseline: ▴ MCA (bilateral) ▴ PCA (left) |
| Brookings et al., 1996 | 1996 | 8 | (21–29) | Healthy adults | Air traffic controllers | Simulation | EEG | Experimental (crossover) | Task difficulty (measured in Theta power): High vs. Low difficulty: ▴ F8, C3, Cz, T4, P3, Pz, P4 Medium vs. Low difficulty: ▴ C3, P3, Pz Overload condition vs. Low difficulty: ▴ F3, C3, Pz Overload condition vs. Medium difficulty: ▴ T6, O2 Overload condition vs. High difficulty: ▴ F7, F3, Fz, C3 |
| Koepp et al., 1998** | 1998 | 8 | (36–46) | Healthy adults, male | – | Action | PET | Quasi-experimental (with pretest) | VGP vs. baseline: ▾ Striatum (dopamine binding) Performance level: ▾ VS (dopamine binding) |
| Pellouchoud et al., 1999* | 1999 | 7 | (9–15) | Healthy children | – | Puzzle | EEG | Experimental (crossover) | Gameplay vs. resting: ▴ Frontal midline theta (6–7 Hz) ▾ Posterior alpha (9–12 Hz) ▾ Central mu (10–13 Hz) |
| Smith et al., 1999 | 1999 | 6 | (22–25) | Healthy young adults | – | Action, shooter | EEG | Quasi-experimental (with pretest) | VG Post vs. Pre: ▾ Central alpha waves ▴ Primary motor cortex alpha waves ▴ Frontal midline theta waves |
| Izzetoglu et al., 2004* | 2004 | 8 | (18–50) | Healthy adults | – | Action, strategy | NIRS | Experimental (crossover) | VG difficulty: ▴ dlPFC (bilateral) |
| Matsuda and Hiraki, 2004* | 2004 | 6 | (23–29) | Healthy young adults | – | Action, First Person Shooter Rhythm Puzzle | NIRS | Experimental (crossover) | VG play vs. rest: ▾ dPFC Viewing VG or non-VG images: ▾ dPFC Fast vs. slow finger tapping: ▴ dPFC Left vs. right finger tapping: ▴ dPFC |
| Matsuda and Hiraki, 2006* | 2006 | 13 | (7–14) | Healthy children | – | Action, fighting Puzzle | NIRS | Experimental (crossover) | Children (VG play vs. rest): ▾ dPFC Children vs. Adults (VG play): = dPFC |
| Nagamitsu et al., 2006** | 2006 | 12 | 8 (7–10) (children) 34 (26–44) (adults) |
Healthy children Healthy adults |
Low and High VGP (>2 h/day) Non-VGP |
Action, 2D Platforms | NIRS | Quasi-experimental (with control group) | During VG play: ▴ PFC (bilateral) in 4 adults ▾ PFC (bilateral) in 2 children ▴ PFC & Motor cortex (bilateral) correlation |
| Salminen and Ravaja, 2007** | 2007 | 25 | 23.8 | Healthy young adults | VGP (>once a month) | Action, 3D Platforms | EEG | Experimental (crossover) | While playing: Picking up item: ▾ Central theta waves ▾ Frontal high alpha waves ▴ Frontal beta waves Falling: ▾ Central theta ▴ Fronto-central beta waves Reaching goal: ▴ Parietal theta waves ▾ Frontal low alpha waves ▴ Frontal high alpha waves ▾ Central high alpha waves ▴ Parietal high alpha waves ▾ Frontal beta waves ▴ Central beta waves |
| Sheikholeslami et al., 2007** | 2007 | 2 | – | Healthy participants | – | Sports | EEG | Quasi-experimental (with pretest) | Gaming vs. resting: ▴ Frontal midline theta waves ▾ Parietal alpha waves & slow increase |
| Corradi-Dell'Acqua et al., 2008* | 2008 | 17 | – | Healthy young adults | – | Custom VG | fMRI | Experimental (factorial design) | VG character controlled synchronously: Agency vs. Control: ▴ MCG (left) ▴ MFG Agency vs. Control (when changing spatial positions): ▴ POT junction (right) |
| Russoniello et al., 2009 | 2009 | 69 | – | – | – | Puzzle | EEG | Experimental (randomized) | VGP vs. Control: ▾ Frontal alpha waves (left) |
| Bailey et al., 2010 | 2010 | 51 | (18–33) | Healthy young adults | Low VGP (1.76 ± 4.75 h/week) High VGP (43.4 ± 16.0 h/week) |
Action | EEG (ERP) | Quasi-experimental (with control group) | High VGP vs. Low VGP: ▾ Medial frontal negativity amplitude ▾ Frontal slow wave amplitude |
| Han et al., 2010b* | 2010 | 21 | 24.1 ± 2.6 | Healthy young adults | Low VGP (<1 h/day) High VGP (>1 h/day) |
Action, fighting | fMRI | Quasi-experimental (with control group and pretest) | Excessive VGP vs. Control: ▴ ACC ▴ OFC |
| Anderson et al., 2011* | 2011 | 20 | 23.6 | Healthy young adults | VGP (low, medium and high) | Action, shooter | fMRI | Experimental (crossover) | During VG play: ▴ Hand motor regions (bilateral) ▴ ACC ▴ PPC ▴ LIPFC ▴ CN ▴ FG |
| Maclin et al., 2011 | 2011 | 39 | (19–29) | Healthy young adults | Low or Non-VGP (<3 h/week) | Action, shooter | EEG (ERP) | Experimental (crossover) | Post vs. Pre-training ▾ P300 amplitude (VG “hits”) ▾ P300 amplitude (oddball tones) ▴ P300 amplitude (VG “enemies”) ▾ Delta power (VG “hits”) ▴ Delta power (oddball tones) ▴ Alpha power (VG “hits”) |
| ▴ Alpha power (oddball tones) ▴ Delta power (VG “enemies”) ▴ Alpha power (VG “enemies”) ▴ Parietal (Pz) theta power (VG “enemies”) ▴ Parietal (Pz) delta power (VG “enemies”) Oddball task inside VG vs outside game ▾ P300 amplitude |
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| Mishra et al., 2011 | 2011 | 41 | 21 (VGP) 24 (Non-VGP) |
Healthy young adults, male | VGP (9.0 ± 2.7 h/week) Non-VGP (0 h/week) |
Action | EEG (SSVEP) | Quasi-experimental (with control group) | VGP vs. Non-VGP: ▴ Suppression SSVEP to unattended peripheral sequences ▴ P300 amplitude |
| Bavelier et al., 2012a | 2012 | 26 | 20.50 | Healthy young adults | VGP (>5 h/week) Low or Non-VGP (<5 h/week) |
Action, First Person Shooter | fMRI | Quasi-experimental (crossover, with control group) | As attentional demands increased: Non-VGP vs. VGP: ▴ FPN |
| Cole et al., 2012* | 2012 | 57 | 25.3 ± 9.4 | Healthy young adults | – | Action, shooter | fMRI | Experimental (randomized) | VG onset: ▴ CN ▴ NAcc ▴ PHG VG gameplay: ▴ Thalamus ▴ Posterior insula ▴ Putamen ▴ Motor regions ▾ Parietal cortex ▾ Medial PFC VG offset gameplay: ▴ Anterior insula ▴ ACC VG group vs. Control: ▴ CN ▴ NAcc ▴ PHG |
| Lee H. et al., 2012 | 2012 | 75 | 21.57 ± 2.58 | Healthy young adults | Low or Non-VGP (<4 h/week) | Action, shooter | fMRI | Experimental (randomized) | Full emphasis vs. Hybrid variable-priority training (post-training): ▴ PCu (left) ▴ Lateral occipital cortex (left) ▴ Intracalcarine cortex (left) ▴ SFG (right) Post vs. Pre training: ▾ Intracalcarine cortex (bilateral) ▾ Lingual gyrus (bilateral) |
| ▾ Lateral occipital cortex (bilateral) Hybrid variable-priority training vs Control: ▾ dlPFC VG skill improvement: ▾ Intracalcarine cortex (right) |
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| Han et al., 2012a* | 2012 | 19 | 20.5 ± 1.5 | Healthy young adults, male | – | Action, First Person Shooter | fMRI/MRI | Experimental (crossover) | VG vs. Neutral stimuli: ▴ IFG (left) ▴ PHG (left) ▴ Parietal lobe (bilateral) ▴ Thalamus (bilateral) ▴ Cerebellum (right) |
| VG training amount: ▴ Medial frontal lobe (right) ▴ PrCG (bilateral) ▴ PoCG (right) ▴ PHG (right) ▴ PCu (left) |
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| Havranek et al., 2012 | 2012 | 20 | 23.5 ± 3.83 | Healthy young adults | VGP (>11.7 h/week) Non-VGP (0.2 h/week) |
Role-playing | EEG | Experimental (factorial) | 1st person view vs. 3rd person view: ▾ Parietal alpha ▾ Occipital alpha ▾ Limbic cortex alpha Active VGP vs. Passive VGP: ▴ Frontal theta |
| Klasen et al., 2012* | 2012 | 13 | (18–26) | Healthy young adults, male | VGP (15.1 ± 9.0 h/week) | Action, First Person Shooter | fMRI | Experimental (crossover) | Success vs. failure events: ▴ Head of the CN ▴ NAcc ▴ Putamen ▴ Cerebellum ▴ Thalamus ▴ SPG ▴ Motor and premotor areas High vs low focus (presence of enemies): ▴ Cerebellum ▴ Visual areas ▴ PCu ▴ Premotor areas ▾ IPS (bilateral) ▾ OFC ▾ rACC Goal-oriented vs exploratory: ▾ IPS (bilateral) ▴ FFA ▾ dACC ▾ PCu High vs Low control: ▴ Visual areas ▴ Cerebellum ▴ Thalamus ▴ Motor areas ▾ Temporal poles (bilateral) ▾ AG (bilateral) |
| Liu et al., 2012 | 2012 | 68 | 19.7 ± 2.0 | Healthy young adults | – | Racing | NIRS | Experimental (randomized) | Extrinsic orders & Intrinsic orders vs. Control: ▴ Prefrontal activation Extrinsic orders vs. Intrinsic orders: ▴ Prefrontal activation (globally) ▾ Prefrontal activation (in subsequent VG trials) |
| Mathewson et al., 2012 | 2012 | 39 | (18–28) | Healthy young adults | Low or Non-VGP (<3 h/week) | Action, shooter | EEG (ERSP) | Experimental (crossover) | Learning rate predicted by: ▴ Frontal alpha power ▴ Alpha ERSPs ▴ Delta ERSPs |
| Prakash et al., 2012 | 2012 | 66 | 22 ± 2.90 (Fixed emphasis training) 20.86 ± 2.19 (Hybrid variable-priority training) 21.48 ± 2.71 (Control) |
Healthy young adults | Low or Non-VGP (<4 h/week) | Action, shooter | fMRI | Experimental (randomized) | Post vs. Pre (all groups): ▾ MFG (right) ▾ SFG (right) ▾ vmPFC HVT vs. Control: ▾ MFG (right) ▾ SFG (right) |
| ▾ vmPFC HVT vs. FET: ▾ MFG (right) ▾ SFG (right) ▾ vmPFC ▾ Motor cortices ▾ Sensory cortices ▾ Posteriomedial cortex |
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| Subhani et al., 2012** | 2012 | 10 | (19–25) | Healthy young adults | – | Racing | EEG | Quasi-experimental (with pretest) | Gaming vs. rest: ▴ Global theta Fz/alpha Pz ratio |
| Voss et al., 2012 | 2012 | 29 | 22.24 ± 2.90 | Healthy young adults | Low or Non-VGP (<3 h/week) | Action, shooter | fMRI | Experimental (randomized) | Post vs. Pre-training (FC): Changes in the DMN |
| Wu et al., 2012 | 2012 | 16 | 21.3 (Experimental) 22 (Control) |
Healthy young adults | Non-VGP | Action, First Person Shooter | EEG (ERP) | Experimental (randomized with pretest) | FPS vs. Non-action: = N100 amplitude = P100 amplitude ▴ P200 amplitude ▴ P300 amplitude |
| Anguera et al., 2013 | 2013 | 46 | 67.1 ± 64.2 | Healthy older adults | Low or Non-VGP (<2 h/month) | Racing | EEG | Experimental (crossover) | After VG training: ▴ Midline frontal theta power ▴ Frontal-posterior theta coherence |
| Bailey and West, 2013** | 2013 | 31 | 20.40 ± 2.01 (Action) 21.77 ± 4.02 (Non-action) 24.22 ± 8.43 (Control) |
Healthy adults | Non-VGP (0 h/week) | Action, First Person Shooter Puzzle, Brain Training |
EEG (ERP) | Experimental (randomized) | After VG training: Action VG vs. Control: ▴ Frontal amplitude (right) ▴ Posterior amplitude (right) Non-action VG vs. Control: ▴ N200 amplitude ▴ P300 amplitude ▾ Sustained modulation centralparietal region (left) ▴ Sustained modulation frontal region Post vs Pre: Action & Non-action VG vs. Control: ▴ P300 amplitude |
| Berta et al., 2013 | 2013 | 22 | 26.3 ± 5.5 | Healthy young adults | VGP and Non-VGP | Action, shooter | EEG | Experimental (crossover) | VG difficulty differences in: Alpha frequency Low-beta frequency Mid beta frequency |
| Khairuddin et al., 2013* | 2013 | 29 | 21.73 ± 1.59 | Healthy young adults | – | Racing | EEG | Experimental (crossover) | 3D vs. 2D VG play: ▴ Occipital CPEI complexity ▴ Occipital Hjorth complexity ▴ Temporal Hjorth complexity |
| Krishnan et al., 2013 | 2013 | 24 | – | – | Action VGP (9 h/week) Non-action VGP (15 h/week) | Action, First Person Shooter Role-playing |
EEG (SSVEP) | Quasi-experimental (with control group) | Non-action VGP: (Hit rate at attended 8.6 Hz flicker) ▴ Parietal activation (task difficulty at attended 8.6 flicker) ▴ Frontal activation Action VGP: (Hit rate at ignored 3 Hz flicker) ▴ Parietal activation (task difficulty at ignored 3 Hz flicker) ▴ Frontal activation |
| Mathiak et al., 2013 | 2013 | 13 | (18–26) | Healthy young adults, male | VGP (>5 h/week) | Action, First Person Shooter | fMRI | Quasi-experimental (crossover) | Decrease of positive affect: ▴ Insula (bilateral) ▴ Amygdala (bilateral) Increase of negative affect: ▾ vmPFC (bilateral) ▾ PCu ▾ HC |
| Martínez et al., 2013 | 2013 | 20 | 18.95 ± 2.65 | Healthy young adults, female | Low or Non-VGP | Puzzle, Brain training | fMRI | Experimental (randomized, with pretest) | Post vs. pre-training (resting state): ▴ Parietofrontal correlated activity VG training vs. control group (resting state): ▴ PCu (bilateral) ▴ PCC ▴ Retrosplenial cortex ▴ Inferior parietal/supramarginal (B40) ▴ TPJ ▴ TO junction ▴ PTC (BA21, 22) ▴ Temporal pole (left) ▴ IFG (left) ▴ dlPFC & vmPFC (BA10, 11) (bilateral) ▴ MFG (BA9) (left) ▴ ACC (BA24, 32) ▴ Cuneus (BA18, 19) (bilateral) ▴ Cerebellum (bilateral) ▴ Thalamus |
| McGarry et al., 2013 | 2013 | 7 | (60–85) | Healthy older adults | – | Strategy | fMRI | Quasi-experimental (with pretest) | After VG training (FC): ▴ PPC & AG |
| Tachtsidis and Papaioannou, 2013** | 2013 | 30 | 24.00 | Healthy young adults | ≪Some≫ experience in VG | Action, fighting Puzzle |
NIRS | Experimental (randomized with pretest) | VG playing vs. baseline: ▴ PFC Fighting vs. puzzle game: ▴ PFC (1st third of gameplay) ▾ PFC (3rd third of gameplay) |
| Hahn et al., 2014 | 2014 | 27 | 25.5 ± 4.18 (VGP) 24.5 ± 2.85 (Non-VGP) |
Healthy young adults | VGP (>4 h/week) Non-VGP (0 h/week) |
Role-playing, MMORPG | fMRI | Quasi-experimental (with control group) | VGP vs. Non-VGP (reward anticipation): ▾ VS VGP vs. Non-VGP (resting-state): ▴ VS regional homogeneity (right) |
| Nikolaidis et al., 2014 | 2014 | 45 | 21.74 ± 5.09 | Healthy young adults | Low or Non-VGP (<4 h/week) | Action, shooter | fMRI | Experimental (crossover) | Post vs. Pre-training (predictors of working memory performance): ▴ Superior parietal lobule ▴ PoCG ▴ PCu |
| Strenziok et al., 2014 | 2014 | 46 | 69.21 ± 4.9 | Healthy older adults | – | Action, Shooter real time strategy puzzle, Brain training | fMRI | Experimental (randomized with pretest) | Puzzle & Shooter vs. Strategy (FC): ▾ SPG & ITG |
| Yoshida et al., 2014* | 2014 | 20 | 22.3 ± 1.2 | Healthy young adults | – | Puzzle | NIRS | Experimental (crossover) | Flow vs. boredom condition: ▴ vlPFC (bilateral) ▴ dlPFC (bilateral) ▴ Frontal pole areas (bilateral) |
| Anderson et al., 2015 | 2015 | 40 | 24.0 | Healthy young adults | – | Action, shooter | fMRI | Experimental (crossover) | Predictor of VG skill: ▴ DS (right) ▴ Sequential structure of whole brain activation |
| Hsu et al., 2015 | 2015 | 41 | 26.3 | Healthy young adults | – | Racing | tDCS | Experimental (crossover) | Anodal tDCS vs. Sham: ▴ dlPFC (left) enhanced multitasking performance 2nd session vs. 1st session: ▴ dlPFC (left) decreased multitasking cost |
| Kim Y. H. et al., 2015* | 2015 | 31 | 29.0 ± 4.1 | Healthy young adults | VGP (>3 h/week) Non-VGP (<10 h/year) |
Strategy | fMRI | Quasi-experimental (with control group and pretest) | VGP vs. Non-VGP: ▴ IFG (right) ▴ ACC ▴ Striatum |
| Liu T. et al., 2015 | 2015 | 51 | 21.0 ± 2.2 | Healthy young adults | Low and High VGP | Racing | NIRS | Experimental (factorial) | Single vs. Paired (low VGP group) ▴ PFC Low vs. High VGP (paired group) ▾ PFC |
| Lorenz et al., 2015 | 2015 | 50 | 23.8 ± 3.9 (Experimental) 23.4 ± 3.7 (Control) |
Healthy young adults | Low or Non-VGP (0.7 ± 1.97 h/month) | Action, 3D Platforms | fMRI | Experimental (randomized) | Post vs. Pre-test (reward anticipation, VG training & control group): ▾ VS Post vs. Pre-test (VG training group): = VS Post vs. Pre-test (control group) ▾ VS |
| McMahan et al., 2015 | 2015 | 30 | 20.87 (18–43) | Healthy adults | Low and High VGP (20% >20 h/week) | Action, 2D Platforms | EEG | Experimental (crossover) | High vs. Low intensity VG events: ▴ Betta power ▴ Gamma power |
| Patten et al., 2015 | 2015 | – | – | – | Low or Non-VGP VGP | – | EEG (ERP) | Quasi-experimental (with control group) | VGP vs. Non-VGP: ▾ Latency Pd component |
| West et al., 2015 | 2015 | 59 | 23.88 ± 3.94 (Action) 24.36 ± 3.68 (Non-action) |
Healthy young adults | Action VGP (17.9 ± 10.44 h/week) Non-Action VGP (0 h/week) |
Action, First Person Shooter, Adventure |
EEG (ERP) | Quasi-experimental (with control group) | Action vs. Non-VGP: ▾ Visual cortex amplitude (N2pc) in near condition. ▴ Visual cortex amplitude (N2pc) in far condition ▴ P3 component amplitude in targets. |
ACC, Anterior cingulate cortex; AG, Angular gyrus; CN, Caudate nucleus; CPEI, Composite permutation entropy index; dACC, Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex; dlPFC, Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; DS, Dorsal striatum; EEG, Electroencephalography; ERP, Event-related potentials; ERSP, Event-related spectral dynamics; FFA, Fusiform face area; FC, Functional connectivity; FG, Fusiform gyrus; fMRI, Functional magnetic resonance imaging; FPN, Frontoparietal network; HC, Hippocampus; IFG, Inferior frontal gyrus; ITG, Inferior temporal gyrus; IPS, Intraparietal sulcus; liPFC, Lateral inferior prefrontal cortex; MCA, Middle cerebral artery; MCG, Middle cingulate gyrus; MFG, Middle frontal gyrus; MRI, Magnetic resonance imaging; NAcc, Nucleus accumbens; NIRS, Near-infrarred spectroscopy; OFC, Orbitofrontal cortex; PCA, Posterior cerebral artery; PPC, Posterior cingulate cortex; PCu, Precuneus; PFC: Prefrontal cortex; PHG, Parahippocampal gyrus; PoCG, Post central gyrus; POT, Parieto-occipito-temporal; PPC, Posterior parietal cortex; PrCG, Pre-central gyrus; PTC, Posterior temporal cortex; rACC, Rostral anterior cingulate cortex; SFG, Superior frontal gyrus; SPG, Superior parietal gyrus; SSVEP, Steady state visually evoked potential; tDCS, Transcranial direct current stimulation; TO, Temporo-occipital; TPJ, Temporo-parietal junction; VG, Video game; VGP, Video game player; vmPFC, Ventromedial prefrontal cortex; VS, Ventral striatum. 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.