Association of Video Gaming With Cognitive Performance Among Children

Abstract

Importance: Although most research has linked video gaming to subsequent increases in aggressive behavior in children after accounting for prior aggression, findings have been divided with respect to video gaming's association with cognitive skills.

Objective: To examine the association between video gaming and cognition in children using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study.

Design, setting, and participants: In this case-control study, cognitive performance and blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal were compared in video gamers (VGs) and non-video gamers (NVGs) during response inhibition and working memory using task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a large data set of 9- and 10-year-old children from the ABCD study, with good control of demographic, behavioral, and psychiatric confounding effects. A sample from the baseline assessment of the ABCD 2.0.1 release in 2019 was largely recruited across 21 sites in the US through public, private, and charter elementary schools using a population neuroscience approach to recruitment, aiming to mirror demographic variation in the US population. Children with valid neuroimaging and behavioral data were included. Some exclusions included common MRI contraindications, history of major neurologic disorders, and history of traumatic brain injury.

Exposures: Participants completed a self-reported screen time survey including an item asking children to report the time specifically spent on video gaming. All fMRI tasks were performed by all participants.

Main outcomes and measures: Video gaming time, cognitive performance, and BOLD signal assessed with n-back and stop signal tasks on fMRI. Collected data were analyzed between October 2019 and October 2020.

Results: A total of 2217 children (mean [SD] age, 9.91 [0.62] years; 1399 [63.1%] female) participated in this study. The final sample used in the stop signal task analyses consisted of 1128 NVGs (0 gaming hours per week) and 679 VGs who played at least 21 hours per week. The final sample used in the n-back analyses consisted of 1278 NVGs who had never played video games (0 hours per week of gaming) and 800 VGs who played at least 21 hours per week. The VGs performed better on both fMRI tasks compared with the NVGs. Nonparametric analyses of fMRI data demonstrated a greater BOLD signal in VGs in the precuneus during inhibitory control. During working memory, a smaller BOLD signal was observed in VGs in parts of the occipital cortex and calcarine sulcus and a larger BOLD signal in the cingulate, middle, and frontal gyri and the precuneus.

Conclusions and relevance: In this study, compared with NVGs, VGs were found to exhibit better cognitive performance involving response inhibition and working memory as well as altered BOLD signal in key regions of the cortex responsible for visual, attention, and memory processing. The findings are consistent with videogaming improving cognitive abilities that involve response inhibition and working memory and altering their underlying cortical pathways.

Figure 1.. Model Used to Study the Association Between Video Gaming and BOLD Signal Activation in the n-Back Task and Stop Signal Task

BOLD indicates blood oxygen level dependent. b1 indicates the direct effect of videogaming on BOLD signal. b2 and b3 represent for each covariate the direct effects on videogaming and BOLD signal, respectively. The dashed blue arrow and the black arrow represent the indirect and total effects of each covariate on BOLD signal, respectively. Circled arrows represent the variance of each variable in the model.

Figure 2.. Differences of Cognitive Task Performance and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) Measures Between Video Gamers and Non–Video Gamers

A-D, Adjusted means and standard errors from linear mixed models accounting for sociodemographic factors are visualized. F, A t score of 59 or less indicates nonclinical symptoms, a t score between 60 and 64 indicates that the child is at risk for problem behaviors, and a t score of 65 or greater indicates clinical symptoms. The t score of 60 is visually represented with a dashed blue line on the graph. Whiskers represent SEs. ADHD indicates attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; OCD, obsessive-compulsive disorder; RT, reaction time; and SSRT, stop signal reaction time. ^aSignificant differences with false discovery rate–corrected P < .05. ^bD' was calculated as the z-transformed hit rate minus the z-transformed false alarm rate.

Figure 3.. Vertexwise Between-Group Comparisons in Video Gamers vs Non–Video Gamers

SST indicates stop signal task.