Siena Brain Investigation & Neuromodulation Lab (Si-BIN Lab), Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology Section, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Human Physiology Section, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Eur J Neurosci. 2019 May;49(9):1180-1195. doi: 10.1111/ejn.14272. Epub 2019 Jan 16.
Cross-sectional data suggest videogaming as promoting modifications in perceptual and cognitive skills of players, as well as inducing structural brain changes. However, whether such changes are both possible after a systematic gaming exposure, and last beyond the training period, is not known. Here, we originally quantified immediate and long-lasting cognitive and morphometric impact of a systematic gaming experience on a first-person shooter (FPS) game. Thirty-five healthy participants, assigned to a videogaming and a control group, underwent a cognitive assessment and structural magnetic resonance imaging at baseline (T0), immediately post-gaming (T1) and after 3 months (T2). Enhancements of cognitive performance were found on perceptual and attentional measures at both T1 and T2. Morphometric analysis revealed immediate structural changes involving bilateral medial and posterior thalamic nuclei, as well as bilateral superior temporal gyrus, right precentral gyrus, and left middle occipital gyrus. Notably, significant changes in pulvinar volume were still present at T2, while a voxel-wise regression analysis also linked baseline pulvinar volume and individual changes in gaming performance. Present findings extend over the notion that videogame playing might impact cognitive and brain functioning in a beneficial way, originally showing long-term brain structural changes even months after gaming practice. The involvement of posterior thalamic structures highlights a potential link between FPS games and thalamo-cortical networks related to attention mechanisms and multisensory integration processing.
横断面数据表明，电子游戏可以促进玩家感知和认知技能的改变，并诱导大脑结构的变化。然而，在系统的游戏暴露后，这种变化是否是可能的，并且是否能持续超过训练期，目前还不得而知。在这里，我们最初量化了系统游戏体验对第一人称射击 (FPS) 游戏的即时和长期认知和形态计量学影响。35 名健康参与者被分配到电子游戏组和对照组，他们在基线 (T0)、游戏后即刻 (T1) 和 3 个月后 (T2) 接受认知评估和结构磁共振成像。在 T1 和 T2 时，都发现了在感知和注意力测量方面的认知表现增强。形态计量学分析显示，双侧丘脑内侧和后部核以及双侧颞上回、右侧中央前回和左侧中枕叶即刻发生结构变化。值得注意的是，在 T2 时，丘脑枕的体积仍有显著变化，而体素回归分析还将基线丘脑枕体积与游戏表现的个体变化联系起来。目前的研究结果扩展了这样一种观点，即电子游戏可能以有益的方式影响认知和大脑功能，最初显示出即使在游戏练习几个月后，大脑结构也会发生长期变化。后丘脑结构的参与突出了 FPS 游戏与注意力机制和多感觉整合处理相关的丘脑皮质网络之间的潜在联系。
