Study sheds new light on the impact of video gaming on the brain
2015-05-20
(Press-News.org) A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B by the teams of Dr. Gregory West (Assistant Professor at the Université de Montréal) and Dr. Véronique Bohbot (Douglas Institute researcher and associate Professor at McGill University and the Douglas Research Institute of the CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'Île de Montréal) shows that while video game players (VGPs) exhibit more efficient visual attention abilities, they are also much more likely to use navigation strategies that rely on the brain's reward system (the caudate nucleus) and not the brain's spatial memory system (the hippocampus). Past research has shown that people who use caudate nucleus-dependent navigation strategies have decreased grey matter and lower functional brain activity in the hippocampus.
Video gamers now spend a collective three billion hours per week in front of their screens. In fact, it is estimated that the average young person will have spent some 10,000 hours gaming by the time they are 21. The effects of intense video gaming on the brain are only beginning to be understood.
Why it's important
The study was conducted among a group of adult gamers who were spending at least six hours per week on this activity.
"For more than a decade now, research has demonstrated that action video game players display more efficient visual attention abilities, and our current study has once again confirmed this notion," says first author Dr. Gregory West. "However, we also found that gamers rely on the caudate-nucleus to a greater degree than non-gamers. Past research has shown that people who rely on caudate nucleus-dependent strategies have lower grey matter and functional brain activity in the hippocampus. This means that people who spend a lot of time playing video games may have reduced hippocampal integrity, which is associated with an increased risk of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease."
Because past research has shown video games as having positive effects on attention, it is important for future research to confirm that gaming does not have a negative effect on the hippocampus. Future research using neuroimaging will be necessary to further qualify our current findings, and these studies should investigate the direct effects of specific video games on the integrity of the reward system and hippocampus.
INFORMATION:
Funding information:
Fonds de Recherche Nature et Technologies - Team Grant #181390 (G.W., V.B).
Natural Science and Engineering Council of Canada - Discovery Grant #436140-2013 (G.W.)
Fonds de recherche Nature et technologies - Early Researcher Grant #181515 (G.W.)
Contacts:
Florence Meney
Media Relations
Communications and Public Affairs
Douglas Mental Health University Institute
Tel.: 514-761-6131, ext. 2769
florence.meney@douglas.mcgill.ca
About the Douglas Institute - http://www.douglas.qc.ca
The Douglas is a world-class institute affiliated with McGill University and the World Health Organization. It treats people suffering from mental illness and offers them both hope and healing. Its teams of specialists and researchers are constantly increasing scientific knowledge, integrating this knowledge into patient care, and sharing it with the community in order to educate the public and eliminate prejudices surrounding mental health.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2015-05-19
ATS 2015, DENVER--Patient-selected music during weaning from prolonged mechanical ventilation could benefit patients by decreasing their heart rate and anxiety, according to a study presented at the 2015 American Thoracic Society International Conference.
Patients on prolonged mechanical ventilation may feel stress or insecurity during daily weaning trials because they do not have support from the ventilator. "Having patients listen to music during these trials may help reduce stress and speed up extubation," said lead author Zhan Liang, a PhD candidate at the University ...
2015-05-19
ATS 2015, DENVER -- Critically ill patients who have been mechanically ventilated for more than seven days are at greatly increased risk for functional impairment and mortality at one year following discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU), according to a new study presented at the 2015 American Thoracic Society International Conference.
"Prolonged mechanical ventilation has a significant impact on the long-term well-being of patients," said lead author Margaret Herridge. MD, MPH. of the University of Toronto. "In our study of nearly 400 ICU patients, we were able ...
2015-05-19
DARIEN, IL - A new study of young U.S. veterans shows that the probability of having a high risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increased with increasing severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.
The study involved 195 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who visited a VA outpatient PTSD clinic for evaluation. Results show that 69.2 percent of participants had a high risk for sleep apnea, and this risk increased with PTSD symptom severity. Every clinically significant increase in PTSD symptom severity was associated with a 40 percent increase in the probability ...
2015-05-19
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 19, 2015 -- Playing natural sounds such as flowing water in offices could boosts worker moods and improve cognitive abilities in addition to providing speech privacy, according to a new study from researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. They will present the results of their experiment at the 169th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, held May 18-22, 2015 in Pittsburgh.
An increasing number of modern open-plan offices employ sound masking systems that raise the background sound of a room so that speech is rendered unintelligible ...
2015-05-19
Children born since the 1980s are two to three times more likely than older generations to be overweight or obese by the age of 10, according to new research published in PLOS Medicine. The study, conducted by researchers from CLOSER, a consortium of UK longitudinal studies, characterized population shifts in body mass index (BMI) using data from more than 56,000 people born in Britain from 1946 to 2001.
The findings will be relevant to policymakers and health care professionals, who predict the obesity epidemic will cost the UK's National Health Service (NHS) £22.9 ...
2015-05-19
Large-scale screening for diabetes in India using currently available survey- and glucometer- based screening tools is unlikely to meet effectiveness criteria, according to a modeling study published this week in PLOS Medicine. The predictions of this simulation, conducted by Sanjay Basu of Stanford University and colleagues, suggest that large numbers of false positive results would waste financial resources, and that focusing on symptom-based screening and on improvements to diabetes treatment might better serve India's population.
Diabetes is becoming increasingly ...
2015-05-19
Researchers at the University of Birmingham have identified the role of an enzyme in muscle wasting, and associated age-related problems. They believe that inhibiting it could hold the key to developing ways of preventing, or reversing, the adverse effects.
The research, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, is a significant step in understanding the role played by the enzyme '11β-HSD1' in the degenerative effects of ageing - including sarcopenia (age related muscle wasting).
The expression of 11β-HSD1, responsible for activating ...
2015-05-19
Use of cholesterol lowering drugs is associated with a one third lower risk of stroke in older adults without previous disease, finds a study published in The BMJ this week.
In high income countries, a growing proportion of heart disease and stroke occur in the oldest people. In France, for instance, people aged 85 years and over accounted for 43% of deaths from coronary heart disease and 49% of deaths from stroke in 2010.
Yet very few people over the age of 70 take part in trials testing cardiovascular drugs, so their benefit in the oldest people remains uncertain. ...
2015-05-19
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A new study in animals suggests that skipping meals sets off a series of metabolic miscues that can result in abdominal weight gain.
In the study, mice that ate all of their food as a single meal and fasted the rest of the day developed insulin resistance in their livers - which scientists consider a telltale sign of prediabetes. When the liver doesn't respond to insulin signals telling it to stop producing glucose, that extra sugar in the blood is stored as fat.
These mice initially were put on a restricted diet and lost weight compared to controls ...
2015-05-19
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- Many of those who should get it, don't. And many of those who shouldn't, do. That's the story of a common screening test for osteoporosis, according to new research from UC Davis Health System.
The study, published online today in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, found that screening rates increased sharply among women at age 50, despite guidelines suggesting screening at age 65 unless risk factors are present. The presence of risk factors only had a modest influence on screening decisions.
Osteoporosis causes bone density to diminish ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Study sheds new light on the impact of video gaming on the brain
