Connectivity in the Dorsal Visual Stream Is Enhanced in Action Video Game Players
Action video games foster competitive environments that demand rapid spatial navigation and decision-making. Action video gamers often exhibit faster response times and slightly improved accuracy in vision-based sensorimotor tasks. <b>Background/Objectives:</b> However, the underlying fu...
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MDPI AG
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/14/12/1206 |
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| author | Kyle Cahill Timothy Jordan Mukesh Dhamala |
| author_facet | Kyle Cahill Timothy Jordan Mukesh Dhamala |
| author_sort | Kyle Cahill |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Action video games foster competitive environments that demand rapid spatial navigation and decision-making. Action video gamers often exhibit faster response times and slightly improved accuracy in vision-based sensorimotor tasks. <b>Background/Objectives:</b> However, the underlying functional and structural changes in the two visual streams of the brain that may be contributing to these cognitive improvements have been unclear. <b>Methods:</b> Using functional and diffusion MRI data, this study investigated the differences in connectivity between gamers who play action video games and nongamers in the dorsal and ventral visual streams. <b>Results:</b> We found that action video gamers have enhanced functional and structural connectivity, especially in the dorsal visual stream. Specifically, there is heightened functional connectivity—both undirected and directed—between the left superior occipital gyrus and the left superior parietal lobule during a moving-dot discrimination decision-making task. This increased connectivity correlates with response time in gamers. The structural connectivity in the dorsal stream, as quantified by diffusion fractional anisotropy and quantitative anisotropy measures of the axonal fiber pathways, was also enhanced for gamers compared to nongamers. <b>Conclusions:</b> These findings provide valuable insights into how action video gaming can induce targeted improvements in structural and functional connectivity between specific brain regions in the visual processing pathways. These connectivity changes in the dorsal visual stream underpin the superior performance of action video gamers compared to nongamers in tasks requiring rapid and accurate vision-based decision-making. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1f757b73255b4744a9c3ba077820b7c0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-1f757b73255b4744a9c3ba077820b7c02024-12-27T14:14:46ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252024-11-011412120610.3390/brainsci14121206Connectivity in the Dorsal Visual Stream Is Enhanced in Action Video Game PlayersKyle Cahill0Timothy Jordan1Mukesh Dhamala2Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303, USADepartment of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303, USAAction video games foster competitive environments that demand rapid spatial navigation and decision-making. Action video gamers often exhibit faster response times and slightly improved accuracy in vision-based sensorimotor tasks. <b>Background/Objectives:</b> However, the underlying functional and structural changes in the two visual streams of the brain that may be contributing to these cognitive improvements have been unclear. <b>Methods:</b> Using functional and diffusion MRI data, this study investigated the differences in connectivity between gamers who play action video games and nongamers in the dorsal and ventral visual streams. <b>Results:</b> We found that action video gamers have enhanced functional and structural connectivity, especially in the dorsal visual stream. Specifically, there is heightened functional connectivity—both undirected and directed—between the left superior occipital gyrus and the left superior parietal lobule during a moving-dot discrimination decision-making task. This increased connectivity correlates with response time in gamers. The structural connectivity in the dorsal stream, as quantified by diffusion fractional anisotropy and quantitative anisotropy measures of the axonal fiber pathways, was also enhanced for gamers compared to nongamers. <b>Conclusions:</b> These findings provide valuable insights into how action video gaming can induce targeted improvements in structural and functional connectivity between specific brain regions in the visual processing pathways. These connectivity changes in the dorsal visual stream underpin the superior performance of action video gamers compared to nongamers in tasks requiring rapid and accurate vision-based decision-making.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/14/12/1206visual information processingdorsal visualventral visualbrain connectivityvideo game playingsensorimotor decision-making |
| spellingShingle | Kyle Cahill Timothy Jordan Mukesh Dhamala Connectivity in the Dorsal Visual Stream Is Enhanced in Action Video Game Players Brain Sciences visual information processing dorsal visual ventral visual brain connectivity video game playing sensorimotor decision-making |
| title | Connectivity in the Dorsal Visual Stream Is Enhanced in Action Video Game Players |
| title_full | Connectivity in the Dorsal Visual Stream Is Enhanced in Action Video Game Players |
| title_fullStr | Connectivity in the Dorsal Visual Stream Is Enhanced in Action Video Game Players |
| title_full_unstemmed | Connectivity in the Dorsal Visual Stream Is Enhanced in Action Video Game Players |
| title_short | Connectivity in the Dorsal Visual Stream Is Enhanced in Action Video Game Players |
| title_sort | connectivity in the dorsal visual stream is enhanced in action video game players |
| topic | visual information processing dorsal visual ventral visual brain connectivity video game playing sensorimotor decision-making |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/14/12/1206 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kylecahill connectivityinthedorsalvisualstreamisenhancedinactionvideogameplayers AT timothyjordan connectivityinthedorsalvisualstreamisenhancedinactionvideogameplayers AT mukeshdhamala connectivityinthedorsalvisualstreamisenhancedinactionvideogameplayers |