Gleich Tobias, Lorenz Robert C, Gallinat Jürgen, Kühn Simone
Charité University Medicine, St Hedwig-Krankenhaus, Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Berlin, Germany.
Charité University Medicine, St Hedwig-Krankenhaus, Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Berlin, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Center for Adaptive Rationality, Berlin, Germany.
Neuroimage. 2017 May 15;152:467-475. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.03.032. Epub 2017 Mar 18.
In the present longitudinal study, we aimed to investigate video game training associated neuronal changes in reward processing using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We recruited 48 healthy young participants which were assigned to one of 2 groups: A group in which participants were instructed to play a commercial video game ("Super Mario 64 DS") on a portable Nintendo DS handheld console at least 30minutes a day over a period of two months (video gaming group; VG) or to a matched passive control group (CG). Before and after the training phase, in both groups, fMRI imaging was conducted during passively viewing reward and punishment-related videos sequences recorded from the trained video game. The results show that video game training may lead to reward related decrease in neuronal activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and increase in the hippocampus. Additionally, the decrease in DLPFC activation was associated with gaming related parameters experienced during playing. Specifically, we found that in the VG, gaming related parameters like performance, experienced fun and frustration (assessed during the training period) were correlated to decrease in reward related DLPFC activity. Thus, neuronal changes in terms of video game training seem to be highly related to the appetitive character and reinforcement schedule of the game. Those neuronal changes may also be related to the often reported video game associated improvements in cognitive functions.
在本纵向研究中，我们旨在使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）研究与视频游戏训练相关的奖励处理中的神经元变化。我们招募了48名健康的年轻参与者，将他们分为两组：一组参与者被指示在便携式任天堂DS手持游戏机上每天玩一款商业视频游戏（《超级马里奥64 DS》）至少30分钟，为期两个月（视频游戏组；VG），另一组为匹配的被动对照组（CG）。在训练阶段前后，两组均在被动观看从训练视频游戏中录制的奖励和惩罚相关视频序列时进行fMRI成像。结果表明，视频游戏训练可能导致背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC）中与奖励相关的神经元激活减少，海马体中的激活增加。此外，DLPFC激活的减少与游戏过程中体验到的游戏相关参数有关。具体而言，我们发现在VG组中，游戏相关参数如表现、体验到的乐趣和挫折感（在训练期间评估）与奖励相关的DLPFC活动减少相关。因此，视频游戏训练方面的神经元变化似乎与游戏的趣味性和强化时间表高度相关。这些神经元变化也可能与经常报道的视频游戏相关的认知功能改善有关。
