Faculty of Psychology, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland.
Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2018 Sep;39(9):3742-3758. doi: 10.1002/hbm.24208. Epub 2018 Jun 20.
Experienced video game players exhibit superior performance in visuospatial cognition when compared to non-players. However, very little is known about the relation between video game experience and structural brain plasticity. To address this issue, a direct comparison of the white matter brain structure in RTS (real time strategy) video game players (VGPs) and non-players (NVGPs) was performed. We hypothesized that RTS experience can enhance connectivity within and between occipital and parietal regions, as these regions are likely to be involved in the spatial and visual abilities that are trained while playing RTS games. The possible influence of long-term RTS game play experience on brain structural connections was investigated using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and a region of interest (ROI) approach in order to describe the experience-related plasticity of white matter. Our results revealed significantly more total white matter connections between occipital and parietal areas and within occipital areas in RTS players compared to NVGPs. Additionally, the RTS group had an altered topological organization of their structural network, expressed in local efficiency within the occipito-parietal subnetwork. Furthermore, the positive association between network metrics and time spent playing RTS games suggests a close relationship between extensive, long-term RTS game play and neuroplastic changes. These results indicate that long-term and extensive RTS game experience induces alterations along axons that link structures of the occipito-parietal loop involved in spatial and visual processing.
与非玩家相比，有经验的视频游戏玩家在视空间认知方面表现出更高的性能。然而，关于视频游戏经验与结构脑可塑性之间的关系，我们知之甚少。为了解决这个问题，我们直接比较了即时战略（RTS）视频游戏玩家（VGPs）和非玩家（NVGPs）的大脑白质结构。我们假设 RTS 经验可以增强枕叶和顶叶区域内部和之间的连通性，因为这些区域可能与在玩 RTS 游戏时训练的空间和视觉能力有关。我们使用扩散张量成像（DTI）和感兴趣区域（ROI）方法研究了长期 RTS 游戏经验对大脑结构连接的可能影响，以描述与经验相关的白质可塑性。我们的研究结果表明，与 NVGPs 相比，RTS 玩家的枕叶和顶叶区域之间以及枕叶区域内的总白质连接明显更多。此外，RTS 组的结构网络拓扑组织发生了改变，表现在枕顶子网内的局部效率上。此外，网络指标与玩 RTS 游戏时间之间的正相关表明，广泛、长期的 RTS 游戏与神经可塑性变化密切相关。这些结果表明，长期和广泛的 RTS 游戏经验会导致与空间和视觉处理相关的枕顶回路结构连接的轴突发生变化。
