Habitual action video game playing is associated with caudate nucleus-dependent navigational strategies.
Open accessAbstract
The habitual playing of video games is associated with increased grey matter and activity in the striatum. Studies in humans and rodents have shown an inverse relationship between grey matter in the striatum and hippocampus. We investigated whether action video game playing is also associated with increased use of response learning strategies during navigation, known to be dependent on the caudate nucleus of the striatum, when presented in a dual solution task. We tested 26 action video game players (actionVGPs) and 33 non-action video game players (nonVGPs) on the 4-on-8 virtual maze and a visual attention event-related potential (ERP) task, which elicits a robust N-2-posterior-controlateral (N2pc) component. We found that actionVGPs had a significantly higher likelihood of using a response learning strategy (80.76%) compared to nonVGPs (42.42%). Consistent with previous evidence, actionVGPs and nonVGPs differed in the way they deployed visual attention to central and peripheral targets as observed in the elicited N2pc component during an ERP visual attention task. Increased use of the response strategy in actionVGPs is consistent with previously observed increases in striatal volume in video game players (VGPs). Using response strategies is associated with decreased grey matter in the hippocampus. Previous studies have shown that decreased volume in the hippocampus precedes the onset of many neurological and psychiatric disorders. If actionVGPs have lower grey matter in the hippocampus, as response learners normally do, then these individuals could be at increased risk of developing neurological and psychiatric disorders during their lifetime.
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These dopaminergic circuits are implicated in addictive drug use, compulsive video-gaming, and reward-seeking in general.
“these same circuits are implicated in addictive drug use (Belin et al., 2009), compulsive video-gaming, and reward-seeking in general (West et al., 2015)”
From Hypernatural Monitoring: A Social Rehearsal Account of Smartphone Addiction (2018) · cites this paper as West et al., 2015
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- Authors
- West, G. L., Drisdelle, B. L., Konishi, K., Jackson, J., Jolicoeur, P., & Bohbot, V. D.
- Affiliations
- Université de Montréal (CA)
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute (CA)
- Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3C 3J7
- Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Verdun, Québec, Canada H4H 1R3
- Corresponding author
- West, Greg L.
- Venue
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
- Publisher
- The Royal Society
- Published
- 2015-06-07
- Volume
- 282
- Issue
- 1808
- Pages
- 20142952
- ISSN
- 0080-4649 (ISSN-L)
- 0962-8452
- 1471-2954
- PMC
- PMC4455792
- OpenAlex
- W2133366515
- Cited by
- 70
- References
- 76
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 5
- FWCI
- 8.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Keywords
- action video games, video gaming, caudate nucleus, striatum, response learning, navigational strategies, hippocampus, grey matter, virtual maze, visual attention, event-related potentials, neuroplasticity, psychiatric risk
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Caudate Nucleus, Female, Humans, Male, Psychomotor Performance, Visual Perception, Video Games, Young Adult, Spatial Navigation
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