Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, Boston University, 2 Silber Way, 02215, Boston, MA, United States.
School of Psychology and Computer Science, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.
Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2022 Sep;47(3):239-251. doi: 10.1007/s10484-022-09553-3. Epub 2022 Jun 10.
We examined whether practice in an open skill video-game task would lead to changes in performance, attention, motivation, perceived effort, and theta, alpha, and beta waves. Specifically, we were interested on whether potential performance gains from practice would be primarily explained by the neural efficiency (i.e., cortical idling) or the neural proficiency hypothesis (i.e., mix of heightened and reduced activation across the cortex). To this end, we asked 16 novice participants (8 males and 8 females; Mage = 23.13 years) to play a Nintendo Wii video-game shooting task, namely Link's Crossbow Training. Pre-test scores, which were followed by an acquisition phase, were compared to post-test scores. Performance and subjective data were recorded for each trial and EEG data was continuously recorded using the portable EEGO System. Our findings revealed that performance increased while attention decreased at post-test, thereby confirming that practice leads to performance gains and reduces attentional overload. No changes in motivation or perceived effort were observed, perhaps because effort is a gestalt multidimension construct and video-gaming is an inherently motivating activity. EEG frequency analysis revealed that, for the most part, performance gains were accompanied by increased cortical activity across frequencies bands, thus lending primary support to the neural proficiency hypothesis. Accordingly, neurofeedback interventions to aid motor learning should teach performers not only how to silence their brains (i.e., quiescence state linked to automaticity and "flow") but also how to amplify task-relevant brain networks.
我们考察了在开放式技能视频游戏任务中的练习是否会导致表现、注意力、动机、感知努力和θ、α 和β波的变化。具体来说，我们感兴趣的是，练习带来的潜在表现提升是否主要归因于神经效率（即皮层闲置）或神经熟练程度假说（即皮层激活的增强和减少混合）。为此，我们要求 16 名新手参与者（8 名男性和 8 名女性；平均年龄 23.13 岁）玩任天堂 Wii 视频游戏射击任务，即《林克的十字弓训练》。在获得阶段之前，我们比较了预测试分数和后测试分数。记录了每次试验的表现和主观数据，并使用便携式 EEGO 系统连续记录 EEG 数据。我们的研究结果表明，表现提高，注意力在后测时降低，从而证实了练习可以带来表现提升和减少注意力过载。没有观察到动机或感知努力的变化，也许是因为努力是一种整体多维结构，而视频游戏是一种固有激励活动。脑电图频率分析表明，在大多数情况下，表现提升伴随着各频段皮层活动的增加，因此主要支持神经熟练程度假说。因此，帮助运动学习的神经反馈干预应该不仅教会运动员如何使大脑安静（即与自动性和“流畅”相关的静止状态），还要教会他们如何放大与任务相关的大脑网络。
