Ray Nicholas R, O'Connell Margaret A, Nashiro Kaoru, Smith Evan T, Qin Shuo, Basak Chandramallika
University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
The Center for Vital Longevity, Dallas, TX, USA.
Restor Neurol Neurosci. 2017;35(5):437-456. doi: 10.3233/RNN-160716.
Many studies are currently researching the effects of video games, particularly in the domain of cognitive training. Great variability exists among video games however, and few studies have attempted to compare different types of video games. Little is known, for instance, about the cognitive processes or brain structures that underlie learning of different genres of video games.
To examine the cognitive and neural underpinnings of two different types of game learning in order to evaluate their common and separate correlates, with the hopes of informing future intervention research.
Participants (31 younger adults and 31 older adults) completed an extensive cognitive battery and played two different genres of video games, one action game and one strategy game, for 1.5 hours each. DTI scans were acquired for each participant, and regional fractional anisotropy (FA) values were extracted using the JHU atlas.
Behavioral results indicated that better performance on tasks of working memory and perceptual discrimination was related to enhanced learning in both games, even after controlling for age, whereas better performance on a perceptual speed task was uniquely related with enhanced learning of the strategy game. DTI results indicated that white matter FA in the right fornix/stria terminalis was correlated with action game learning, whereas white matter FA in the left cingulum/hippocampus was correlated with strategy game learning, even after controlling for age.
Although cognition, to a large extent, was a common predictor of both types of game learning, regional white matter FA could separately predict action and strategy game learning. Given the neural and cognitive correlates of strategy game learning, strategy games may provide a more beneficial training tool for adults suffering from memory-related disorders or declines in processing speed, particularly older adults.
目前许多研究正在探究电子游戏的影响，尤其是在认知训练领域。然而，电子游戏之间存在很大差异，很少有研究尝试比较不同类型的电子游戏。例如，对于不同类型电子游戏学习背后的认知过程或脑结构知之甚少。
研究两种不同类型游戏学习的认知和神经基础，以评估它们的共同和独立相关因素，希望为未来的干预研究提供参考。
参与者（31名年轻人和31名老年人）完成了一套广泛的认知测试，并分别玩了两种不同类型的电子游戏，一种动作游戏和一种策略游戏，每种游戏玩1.5小时。对每位参与者进行了扩散张量成像（DTI）扫描，并使用约翰霍普金斯大学图谱提取了区域分数各向异性（FA）值。
行为结果表明，即使在控制年龄后，工作记忆和知觉辨别任务表现更好与两种游戏的学习增强有关，而知觉速度任务表现更好则与策略游戏学习增强独特相关。DTI结果表明，即使在控制年龄后，右侧穹窿/终纹床核的白质FA与动作游戏学习相关，而左侧扣带/海马的白质FA与策略游戏学习相关。
虽然认知在很大程度上是两种类型游戏学习的共同预测因素，但区域白质FA可以分别预测动作游戏和策略游戏的学习。鉴于策略游戏学习的神经和认知相关因素，策略游戏可能为患有与记忆相关障碍或处理速度下降的成年人，尤其是老年人，提供更有益的训练工具。
