Playing Super Mario induces structural brain plasticity: gray matter changes resulting from training with a commercial video game

Cognitive Training Game Versus Action Videogame: Effects on Cognitive Functions in Older Adults

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the study was to compare a cognitive training game, Kawashima Brain Training (KBT), and an action videogame, Super Mario Bros (SMB), in their effects on cognitive function in older adults.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Thirty-six older adults were randomly assigned to the KBT group, the SMB group, or the no-training no-contact control group. All participants completed several cognitive tests [matrix reasoning, Stroop, Trail Making Test, digit symbol substitution test (DSST), Corsi clock, spatial relation, and number comparison]. Then, participants in the game groups were instructed to play the videogame (KBT or SMB) for 1 hour, thrice per week, during 2 months, for a total training time of 24 hours. When the twenty-four 1-hour game sessions were complete, the three groups again completed the cognitive tests.

RESULTS

Analysis of variances on each of the cognitive measures and Tukey's post hoc tests showed that the matrix reasoning change score was significantly greater in both game groups than in the control group. The Stroop test change was significantly greater in the KBT group than in control and SMB groups. The DSST, Corsi block test, spatial relations test, and number comparison test showed significantly greater change in the SMB group than in the control group with KBT intermediate.

CONCLUSION

The scope of benefits of SMB training seems broader than those from the KBT program. The intrinsic characteristics of SMB and KBT games may well be partly responsible for these differences.

eSports: A new window on neurocognitive expertise?

Understanding the neurological changes that take place as expertise develops is a central topic in both cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Here, we argue that video games, despite previous misconceptions, are an excellent model environment from which one can examine the development of neurocognitive expertise. Of particular relevance we argue is the area of esports, which encompass video/computer games played within the medium of cyberspace competitively and increasingly professionally. The massive scale of participation, controlled environments, structured skill ratings, pervasive social nature, and large repositories of data, together make esports potentially a very fruitful area for scientific research to increase our understanding of a new era of cognitive athletes. This chapter reviews the progress and prospects for esports research with a particular focus on the effects of gaming on neurocognition. We also outline some exciting new avenues and techniques from which we hope to further elucidate the benefits of esports on the brain.

Illness, at-risk and resilience neural markers of early-stage bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND

Current knowledge on objective and specific neural markers for bipolar risk and resilience-related processes is lacking, partly due to not subdividing high-risk individuals manifesting different levels of subclinical symptoms who possibly possess different levels of resilience.

METHODS

We delineated grey matter markers for bipolar illness, genetic high risk (endophenotype) and resilience, through comparing across 42 young non-comorbid bipolar patients, 42 healthy controls, and 72 diagnosis-free, medication-naive high-genetic-risk individuals subdivided into a combined-high-risk group who additionally manifested bipolar risk-relevant subsyndromes (N = 38), and an asymptomatic high-risk group (N = 34). Complementary analyses assessed the additional predictive and classification values of grey matter markers beyond those of clinical scores, through using logistic regression and support vector machine analyses.

RESULTS

Illness-related effects manifested as reduced grey matter volumes of bilateral temporal limbic-striatal and cerebellar regions, which significantly differentiated bipolar patients from healthy controls and improved clinical classification specificity by 20%. Reduced bilateral cerebellar grey matter volume emerged as a potential endophenotype and (along with parieto-occipital grey matter changes) separated combined-high-risk individuals from healthy and high-risk individuals, and increased clinical classification specificity by approximately 10% and 27%, respectively, while the relatively normalized cerebellar grey matter volumes in the high-risk sample may confer resilience.

LIMITATIONS

The cross-validation procedure was not performed on an independent sample using independently-derived features. The BD group had different age and sex distributions than some other groups which may not be fully addressable statistically.

CONCLUSIONS

Our framework can be applied in other measurement domains to derive complete profiles for bipolar patients and at-risk individuals, towards forming strategies for promoting resilience and preclinical intervention.

Structural change of thalamus in cirrhotic patients with or without minimal hepatic encephalopathy and the relationship between thalamus volume and clinical indexes related to cirrhosis

Aberrant brain structural change in cirrhotic patients with or without hepatic encephalopathy is one of the most typical cases in voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies. However, there exist inconsistent results regarding to the volume change of the thalamus. Furthermore, the relationship between thalamus structural change and cirrhotic symptoms has not yet been fully elucidated. To address these two issues, we repeated two VBM analyses in SPM and FreeSurfer and compared the two measurements with manually measured thalamic volumes. We also correlated the VBM results with clinical indexes related to cirrhosis to further investigate the relationship between thalamic structural change and liver cirrhosis. The inconsistent result of thalamic structural change was successfully reproduced in regard to the volume measurements of SPM and FreeSurfer. The manually measured results demonstrate an increase in the volume of the thalamus in cirrhotic patients compared to healthy controls, which differs from the results of FreeSurfer. The structural change of thalamus closely correlated with the blood biochemical indexes, including albumin levels, blood coagulation time, and AST/ALT ratio. All of these biochemical indexes are closely related to the severity of liver cirrhosis. Beyond all the results, this study also provides a good demonstration of the difference between multiple VBM measurements for clinicians.

The Effects of Active and Passive Leisure on Cognition in Children: Evidence from Exogenous Variation in Weather

Leisure time activity is often positioned as a key factor in child development, yet we know relatively little about the causal significance of various specific activities or the magnitude of their effects. Here, we couple individual fixed effects and instrumental variable approaches in trying to determine whether specific forms of leisure contribute to gains in test performance over time. We merge a restricted access version of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) Child Development Supplement (CDS), longitudinally collected from 1997 to 2007, with a database of over three million county-day observations of sunlight. We use this proxy for weather to instrument for the variation in physical, outdoor, sedentary, and screen time behaviors based on CDS time diaries. We find evidence that physical and outdoor activity positively influence math performance, while sedentary behavior and screen time exhibit the opposite effect. Moreover, the effect sizes range from a quarter to three quarters of a standard deviation per additional daily hour of activity, rendering them meaningful in a real world sense. Our stratified results indicate that children from less educated mothers and girls seem to be most sensitive to the effects of active and passive forms of leisure. We conclude with a descriptive examination of the trend lines between our data and the new 2014 CDS cohort, providing relevant contemporary context for our findings.

Real-time monitoring prefrontal activities during online video game playing by functional near-infrared spectroscopy

A growing body of literature has suggested that video game playing can induce functional and structural plasticity of the brain. The underlying mechanisms, however, remain poorly understood. In this study, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to record prefrontal activities in 24 experienced game players when they played a massively multiplayer online battle arena video game, League of Legends (LOL), under naturalistic conditions. It was observed that game onset was associated with significant activations in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and concomitant deactivations in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and frontal pole area (FPA). Game events, such as slaying an enemy and being slain by an enemy evoked region-specific time-locked hemodynamic/oxygenation responses in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). It was proposed that the VLPFC activities during LOL playing are likely responses to visuo-motor task load of the game, while the DLPFC/FPA activities may be involved in the constant shifts of attentional states and allocation of cognitive resources required by game playing. The present study demonstrated that it is feasible to use fNIRS to monitor real-time prefrontal activity during online video game playing.

Association of Fatigue and Stress With Gray Matter Volume

Stress is associated with a greater risk for various health problems including reduced gray matter volume (GMV) and density in a number of brain regions. Previous studies show that neuroimaging could be a means to objectively evaluate stress. However, to date, no definite neuroimaging-derived measures are available to detect stress. In this research we used the gray-matter brain healthcare quotient (GM-BHQ), an MRI-based quotient for monitoring brain health based on GMV, as an objective scale to measure the association of stress with the whole brain. We recruited 63 healthy adults to acquire structural T1-weighted images and stress levels evaluated using three representative stress scales: the Profile of Mood States (POMS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFS). We found that the GM-BHQ was sensitive to fatigue and the interaction between fatigue and stress.

White matter neuro-plasticity in mental arithmetic: Changes in hippocampal connectivity following arithmetic drill training

Verbally-mediated arithmetic fact retrieval has been suggested to be subserved by a left-lateralized network including angular gyrus and hippocampus. However, the contribution of these areas to retrieval of arithmetic facts has been under debate lately, challenging the prominent role of the angular gyrus in arithmetic fact retrieval. In the present study, we evaluated changes in structural connectivity of left hippocampus and left angular gyrus in 32 participants following a short extensive drill training of complex multiplication. We observed a significant increase of structural connectivity in fibers encompassing the left hippocampus but not the left angular gyrus. As such, our findings substantiate that the left hippocampus plays a central role in arithmetic fact retrieval. While both structures, left angular gyrus and left hippocampus seem to be parts of the network processing arithmetic facts, hippocampus actually seems to subserve encoding and retrieval of arithmetic facts. In turn, the role of the left angular gyrus might rather be to mediate the fact retrieval network as to whether or not processes of fact retrieval are referred to.

Impact of video games on plasticity of the hippocampus

The hippocampus is critical to healthy cognition, yet results in the current study show that action video game players have reduced grey matter within the hippocampus. A subsequent randomised longitudinal training experiment demonstrated that first-person shooting games reduce grey matter within the hippocampus in participants using non-spatial memory strategies. Conversely, participants who use hippocampus-dependent spatial strategies showed increased grey matter in the hippocampus after training. A control group that trained on 3D-platform games displayed growth in either the hippocampus or the functionally connected entorhinal cortex. A third study replicated the effect of action video game training on grey matter in the hippocampus. These results show that video games can be beneficial or detrimental to the hippocampal system depending on the navigation strategy that a person employs and the genre of the game.

Acute and long-lasting cortical thickness changes following intensive first-person action videogame practice

Recent evidence shows how an extensive gaming experience might positively impact cognitive and perceptual functioning, leading to brain structural changes observed in cross-sectional studies. Importantly, changes seem to be game-specific, reflecting gameplay styles and therefore opening to the possibility of tailoring videogames according to rehabilitation and enhancement purposes. However, whether if such brain effects can be induced even with limited gaming experience, and whether if they can outlast the gaming period, is still unknown. Here we quantified both cognitive and grey matter thickness changes following 15 daily gaming sessions based on a modified version of a 3D first-person shooter (FPS) played in laboratory settings. Twenty-nine healthy participants were randomly assigned to a control or a gaming group and underwent a cognitive assessment, an in-game performance evaluation and structural magnetic resonance imaging before (T0), immediately after (T1) and three months after the end of the experiment (T2). At T1, a significant increase in thickness of the bilateral parahippocampal cortex (PHC), somatosensory cortex (S1), superior parietal lobule (SPL) and right insula were observed. Changes in S1 matched the hand representation bilaterally, while PHC changes corresponded to the parahippocampal place area (PPA). Surprisingly, changes in thickness were still present at T2 for S1, PHC, SPL and right insula as compared to T0. Finally, surface-based regression identified the lingual gyrus as the best predictor of changes in game performance at T1. Results stress the specific impact of core game elements, such as spatial navigation and visuomotor coordination on structural brain properties, with effects outlasting even a short intensive gaming period.

Potential gray matter unpruned in adolescents and young adults dependent on dextromethorphan-containing cough syrups: evidence from cortical and subcortical study

Adolescence is a unique period in neurodevelopment. Dextromethorphan (DXM)-containing cough syrups are new addictive drugs used by adolescents and young adults. The effects of chronic DXM abuse on neurodevelopment in adolescents and young adults are still unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in cortical thickness and subcortical gray matter volumes between DXM-dependent adolescents and young adults and healthy controls, and to explore relationships between alternations in cortical thickness/subcortical volume and DXM duration, initial age of DXM use, as well as impulsive behavior in DXM-dependent adolescents and young adults. Thirty-eight DXM-dependent adolescents and young adults and 18 healthy controls underwent magnetic resonance imaging scanning, and cortical thickness across the continuous cortical surface was compared between the groups. Subcortical volumes were compared on a structure-by-structure basis. DXM-dependent adolescents and young adults exhibited significantly increased cortical thickness in the bilateral precuneus (PreC), left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC. L), left inferior parietal lobe (IPL. L), right precentral gyrus (PreCG. R), right lateral occipital cortex (LOC. R), right inferior temporal cortex (ITC. R), right lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC. R) and right transverse temporal gyrus (TTG. R) (all p < 0.05, multiple comparison corrected) and increased subcortical volumes of the right thalamus and right pallidum. There was a significant correlation between initial age of DXM use and cortical thickness of the DLPFC. L and PreCG. R. A significant correlation was also found between cortical thickness of the DLPFC. L and impulsive behavior in patients. This was the first study to explore relationships between cortical thickness/subcortical volume and impulsive behavior in adolescents dependent on DXM. These structural changes might explain the neurobiological mechanism of impulsive behavior in adolescent DXM users.

Cortical thickness and volume abnormalities in Internet gaming disorder: Evidence from comparison of recreational Internet game users

Although online gaming may lead to Internet gaming disorder (IGD), most players are recreational game users (RGUs) who do not develop IGD. Thus far, little is known about brain structural abnormalities in IGD subjects relative to RGUs. The inclusion of RGUs as a control group could minimize the potential effects of gaming experience and gaming-related cue familiarity on the neural mechanism of IGD subjects. In this study, structural magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired from 38 IGD subjects and 66 RGUs with comparable age, gender, and educational level. Group differences in cortical thickness and volume were analyzed using the FreeSurfer software. Correlations between cortical changes and addiction severity were calculated for both groups. Compared with the RGU group, the IGD group showed significantly decreased cortical thickness in the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex, inferior parietal lobule, bilateral cuneus, precentral gyrus, and right middle temporal gyrus. Moreover, significantly reduced cortical volume was observed in the left superior temporal gyrus and right supramarginal gyrus in the IGD group. Whole-brain correlational analysis indicated different correlations between the two groups. The brain regions that showed group differences were considered to be involved in cognitive control, decision making, and reward/loss processing. These functions may serve as potential mechanisms that explain why IGD individuals experience negative outcomes in frequent game playing.

Video game addiction, ADHD symptomatology, and video game reinforcement

BACKGROUND

Up to 23% of people who play video games report symptoms of addiction. Individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be at increased risk for video game addiction, especially when playing games with more reinforcing properties.

OBJECTIVES

The current study tested whether level of video game reinforcement (type of game) places individuals with greater ADHD symptom severity at higher risk for developing video game addiction.

METHODS

Adult video game players (N = 2,801; Mean age = 22.43, SD = 4.70; 93.30% male; 82.80% Caucasian) completed an online survey. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses were used to test type of game, ADHD symptom severity, and the interaction between type of game and ADHD symptomatology as predictors of video game addiction severity, after controlling for age, gender, and weekly time spent playing video games.

RESULTS

ADHD symptom severity was positively associated with increased addiction severity (b = .73 and .68, ps < 0.001). Type of game played or preferred the most was not associated with addiction severity, ps > .05. The relationship between ADHD symptom severity and addiction severity did not depend on the type of video game played or preferred most, ps > .05.

CONCLUSION

Gamers who have greater ADHD symptom severity may be at greater risk for developing symptoms of video game addiction and its negative consequences, regardless of type of video game played or preferred most. Individuals who report ADHD symptomatology and also identify as gamers may benefit from psychoeducation about the potential risk for problematic play.

Astrocytic water channel aquaporin-4 modulates brain plasticity in both mice and humans: a potential gliogenetic mechanism underlying language-associated learning

The role of astrocytes in brain plasticity has not been extensively studied compared with that of neurons. Here we adopted integrative translational and reverse-translational approaches to explore the role of an astrocyte-specific major water channel in the brain, aquaporin-4 (AQP4), in brain plasticity and learning. We initially identified the most prevalent genetic variant of AQP4 (single nucleotide polymorphism of rs162008 with C or T variation, which has a minor allele frequency of 0.21) from a human database (n=60 706) and examined its functionality in modulating the expression level of AQP4 in an in vitro luciferase reporter assay. In the following experiments, AQP4 knock-down in mice not only impaired hippocampal volumetric plasticity after exposure to enriched environment but also caused loss of long-term potentiation after theta-burst stimulation. In humans, there was a cross-sectional association of rs162008 with gray matter (GM) volume variation in cortices, including the vicinity of the Perisylvian heteromodal language area (Sample 1, n=650). GM volume variation in these brain regions was positively associated with the semantic verbal fluency. In a prospective follow-up study (Sample 2, n=45), the effects of an intensive 5-week foreign language (English) learning experience on regional GM volume increase were modulated by this AQP4 variant, which was also associated with verbal learning capacity change. We then delineated in mice mechanisms that included AQP4-dependent transient astrocytic volume changes and astrocytic structural elaboration. We believe our study provides the first integrative evidence for a gliogenetic basis that involves AQP4, underlying language-associated brain plasticity.

Computer-assisted cognitive remediation therapy increases hippocampal volume in patients with schizophrenia: a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) effectively reduces neurocognitive impairment in patients with schizophrenia, but few studies have used structural neuroimaging methods to assess its neuroanatomical effects. We investigated these effects, as well as the association between changes in cortical volume and neurocognitive performance.

METHOD

Between August 2013 and September 2016, we performed a randomized controlled study comprising a CRT group (16 individuals) and a treatment-as-usual (TAU) group (15 individuals) of patients with schizophrenia. CRT participants engaged in twice-weekly computer-assisted CRT sessions and weekly group meetings for 12 weeks. T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging was performed before and after the intervention period, and whole-brain voxel-based morphometric analysis was used to detect significant cortical gray matter volume changes. We also assessed the correlation between cortical volume changes and CRT-derived neurocognitive improvements.

RESULTS

The CRT group exhibited significantly greater improvements than the TAU group in verbal fluency (P = 0.012) and global cognitive scores (P = 0.049). The CRT group also exhibited significantly greater increases in right hippocampal volume than the TAU group (P < 0.001). Changes in verbal fluency scores and right hippocampal volumes were positively correlated (r = 0.53, P = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

We found that CRT significantly increased right hippocampal volumes and that these enhancements were positively correlated with changes in verbal fluency scores. Our results indicate that CRT induces cognitive improvement through hippocampal plasticity.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Registration number: UMIN000026146 , 2017/02/15, retrospectively registered.

Parental perspectives on video game genre preferences and motivations of children with Down syndrome

Purpose

Video games have the potential to improve brain plasticity in people with Down syndrome. However, little has been done to understand video game preferences in this population. The purpose of this paper is to describe a brief exploration of video game preferences in children with Down syndrome.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was used to collect information from parents of children with Down syndrome about their child’s favorite video games and why they like video games.

Findings

Children with Down syndrome, as reported by their parents, most frequently play action/adventure games, and have several motivating factors for game play including overcoming challenges to gain reward and having fun engaging in the game world.

Research limitations/implications

The current study only recruited from a small sample of the Down syndrome population and therefore may lack generalizability.

Practical implications

Gaining a better understanding of which aspects of video games appeal to children with Down syndrome. Knowing what they prefer will enable us to design games that are engaging and cognitively beneficial.

Originality/value

This paper proposes the importance of video game play to promote development in children with Down syndrome.

Digital Gaming for Improving the Functioning of People With Traumatic Brain Injury: Randomized Clinical Feasibility Study

Background

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major health problem that often requires intensive and long-term rehabilitation.

Objective

The aim of this study was to determine whether rehabilitative digital gaming facilitates cognitive functioning and general well-being in people with TBI.

Methods

A total of 90 Finnish-speaking adults with TBI (18-65 years) were recruited from an outpatient neuroscience clinic. The participants were randomly allocated to one of the three groups: a rehabilitation gaming group (n=29, intervention), an entertainment gaming group (n=29, active control), or a passive control group (n=32). The gaming groups were instructed to engage in gaming for a minimum of 30 min per day for 8 weeks. Primary and secondary outcomes were measured at three time points: before the intervention, after the intervention, and 3 months following the intervention. The primary outcome was cognitive status measured by processing speed and visuomotor tasks (The Trail Making Test; Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition, WAIS-IV, symbol search, coding, and cancellation tasks). Secondary outcomes were attention and executive functions (Simon task), working memory (WAIS-IV digit span and Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test, PASAT), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), self-efficacy (General Self-efficacy Scale), and executive functions (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version). Feasibility information was assessed (acceptability, measurement instruments filled, dropouts, adherence, usability, satisfaction, and possible future use). Cognitive measurements were conducted in face-to-face interviews by trained psychologists, and questionnaires were self-administered.

Results

The effects of rehabilitation gaming did not significantly differ from the effects of entertainment gaming or being in a passive control group. For primary outcomes and PASAT tests, the participants in all three groups showed overall improvement in test scores across the three measurement points. However, depression scores increased significantly between baseline and after 8 weeks and between baseline and after 3 months in the rehabilitative gaming group. No differences were found in patients’ self-efficacy between the three measuring points in any of the groups. Participants did use the games (rehabilitation group: 93%, 27/29; entertainment group 100%, 29/29). Games were seen as a usable intervention (rehabilitation group: 70%, 14/29; entertainment group: 83%, 20/29). The rehabilitation group was less satisfied with the gaming intervention (68%, 13/29 vs 83%, 20/29), but they were more willing to use the game after the intervention period (76%, 16/29 vs 63%, 15/29). Total time spent on gaming during the intervention period was low (15.22 hour rehabilitation gaming group, 19.22 hour entertainment gaming group).

Conclusions

We did not find differences between the groups in improvement in the outcome measures. The improvements in test performance by all three groups may reflect rehearsal effects. Entertainment gaming had elements that could be considered when rehabilitative games are designed for, implemented in, and assessed in larger clinical trials for persons with TBI.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02425527; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02425527 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6esKI1uDH)

Predicting age from cortical structure across the lifespan

Despite interindividual differences in cortical structure, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have demonstrated a large degree of population-level consistency in age-related differences in brain morphology. This study assessed how accurately an individual's age could be predicted by estimates of cortical morphology, comparing a variety of structural measures, including thickness, gyrification and fractal dimensionality. Structural measures were calculated across up to seven different parcellation approaches, ranging from one region to 1000 regions. The age prediction framework was trained using morphological measures obtained from T1-weighted MRI volumes collected from multiple sites, yielding a training dataset of 1056 healthy adults, aged 18-97. Age predictions were calculated using a machine-learning approach that incorporated nonlinear differences over the lifespan. In two independent, held-out test samples, age predictions had a median error of 6-7 years. Age predictions were best when using a combination of cortical metrics, both thickness and fractal dimensionality. Overall, the results reveal that age-related differences in brain structure are systematic enough to enable reliable age prediction based on metrics of cortical morphology.

[Computer-assisted therapy and video games in psychosocial rehabilitation for schizophrenia patients]

OBJECTIVES

Video games and virtual reality have recently become used by clinicians for training or information media or as therapeutic tools. The purpose is to review the use of these technologies for therapy destined for schizophrenia patients.

METHODS

We conducted a review in October 2016 using Pubmed, Scopus and PsychInfo using the following Medical Subject Headings (MESH): "video games", "virtual reality" and "therapy, computer-assisted/methods", each associated with "schizophrenia". Papers were included in the review if: (a) they were published in an English, Spanish or French-language peer-reviewed journal, (b) the study enrolled patients with schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder, (c) the patients used a therapeutic video game or therapeutic virtual reality device.

RESULTS

Eighteen publications were included. The devices studied are mainly therapeutic software developed specifically for therapeutic care. They can be classified according to their therapeutic objectives. These targets corresponded to objectives of psychosocial rehabilitation: improvement of residual symptomatology, cognitive remediation, remediation of cognition and social skills, improvement of everyday life activities, support for occupational integration. Very different devices were proposed. Some researchers analysed programs developed specifically for patients with schizophrenia, while others were interested in the impact of commercial games. Most of the studies were recent, preliminary and European. The impact of these devices was globally positive, particularly concerning cognitive functions.

CONCLUSIONS

Computer-assisted therapy, video games and virtual reality cannot replace usual care but could be used as adjunctive therapy. However, recommending their use seems premature because of the recent and preliminary character of most studies. Moreover, a link is still lacking between this field of research in psychiatry and other fields of research, particularly game studies. Finally, it might be interesting to analyse more precisely the neuropsychological impact of existing commercial games which could potentially be useful for psychosocial rehabilitation.

Improving Emotional Intelligence through Personality Development: The Effect of the Smart Phone Application based Dharma Life Program on Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is established to predict success in leadership effectiveness in various contexts and has been linked to personality factors. This paper introduces Dharma Life Program, a novel approach to improving emotional intelligence by targeting maladaptive personality traits and triggering neuroplasticity through the use of a smart-phone application and mentoring. The program uses neuroplasticity to enable users to create a more adaptive application of their maladaptive traits, thus improving their emotional intelligence. In this study 26 participants underwent the Dharma Life Program in a leadership development setting. We assessed their emotional and social intelligence before and after the Dharma Life Program intervention using the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI). The study found a significant improvement in the lowest three competencies and a significant improvement in almost all domains for the entire sample. Our findings suggest that the completion of the Dharma Life Program has a significant positive effect on Emotional and Social Competency scores and offers a new avenue for improving emotional intelligence competencies.

Fighting Depression: Action Video Game Play May Reduce Rumination and Increase Subjective and Objective Cognition in Depressed Patients

Cognitive deficits are common in depression and may persist following the resolution of affective symptoms. However, therapeutic strategies that successfully target cognitive impairments are lacking. Recent work has demonstrated that playing action video games leads to improvements in cognition, in particular executive function, in healthy individuals. We therefore set out to test whether playing video games can reduce symptoms associated with depression. We focussed on depressive symptoms and on rumination, since rumination is a good predictor of depression and may contribute to triggering depression. We recruited 68 clinically depressed individuals (mean age: 46 years, 47 females) that were randomized into the training group playing a fast paced action video game for 6 weeks or a waitlist control group. Before and after training participants completed online questionnaires and a neuropsychological test battery. Only participants who actually played the game were included in the analysis. The final sample consisted of n = 21 training group and n = 29 waitlist control group. The training group showed significantly higher subjective cognitive ability, as well as lower self-reported rumination at posttest in contrast to the control group (although these findings do not survive Bonferroni correction). On a subsample with cognitive performance data (n = 19) we detected an improvement in executive function (Trail Making Task A and B) in the training compared with the control group. The results show that the fast paced action video game employed in the present study improved Trail Making performance and may reduce rumination and enhance subjective cognitive ability. Future research may focus on the investigation of the precise cognitive profile of effects.

Brain Structures Associated with Internet Addiction Tendency in Adolescent Online Game Players

With the development of the Internet, an increasing number of adolescents play online game excessively, which leads to adverse effects on individuals and society. Previous studies have demonstrated altered gray-matter volume (GMV) in individuals with Internet gaming disorder (IGD), but the relationship between the tendency to IGD and the GMV across whole brain is still unclear in adolescents. In the present study, anatomical imaging with high resolution was performed on 67 male adolescents who played online game; and Young's Internet addiction test (IAT) was conducted to test the tendency to IGD. FMRIB Software Library (FSL) was used to calculate the voxel-based correlations between the GMV and the IAT score after controlling for the age and years of education. The GMVs of the bilateral postcentral gyri (postCG), the bilateral precentral gyri (preCG), the right precuneus, the left posterior midcingulate cortex (pMCC), the left inferior parietal lobe (IPL), and the right middle frontal gyrus (MFG) were negatively correlated with the IAT score. The correlation still existed between the IAT score and the GMVs of the bilateral postCG, the left preCG, the left pMCC, and the right MFG after controlling for the total time of playing online game. When the participants were divided into two groups according to the IAT score, the GMVs of these IAT-related brain regions were lower in high IAT score subgroup (IAT score >50) than in low IAT score subgroup (IAT score ≤50). Our results suggested that the GMVs of brain regions involved in sensorimotor process and cognitive control were associated with the IGD tendency. These findings may lead to new targets for preventing and treating the IGD.

Altered Gray Matter Volume and Resting-State Connectivity in Individuals With Internet Gaming Disorder: A Voxel-Based Morphometry and Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Neuroimaging studies on the characteristics of individuals with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) have been accumulating due to growing concerns regarding the psychological and social problems associated with Internet use. However, relatively little is known about the brain characteristics underlying IGD, such as the associated functional connectivity and structure. The aim of this study was to investigate alterations in gray matter (GM) volume and functional connectivity during resting state in individuals with IGD using voxel-based morphometry and a resting-state connectivity analysis. The participants included 20 individuals with IGD and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Resting-state functional and structural images were acquired for all participants using 3 T magnetic resonance imaging. We also measured the severity of IGD and impulsivity using psychological scales. The results show that IGD severity was positively correlated with GM volume in the left caudate (p < 0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons), and negatively associated with functional connectivity between the left caudate and the right middle frontal gyrus (p < 0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons). This study demonstrates that IGD is associated with neuroanatomical changes in the right middle frontal cortex and the left caudate. These are important brain regions for reward and cognitive control processes, and structural and functional abnormalities in these regions have been reported for other addictions, such as substance abuse and pathological gambling. The findings suggest that structural deficits and resting-state functional impairments in the frontostriatal network may be associated with IGD and provide new insights into the underlying neural mechanisms of IGD.

Playing Super Mario 64 increases hippocampal grey matter in older adults

Maintaining grey matter within the hippocampus is important for healthy cognition. Playing 3D-platform video games has previously been shown to promote grey matter in the hippocampus in younger adults. In the current study, we tested the impact of 3D-platform video game training (i.e., Super Mario 64) on grey matter in the hippocampus, cerebellum, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of older adults. Older adults who were 55 to 75 years of age were randomized into three groups. The video game experimental group (VID; n = 8) engaged in a 3D-platform video game training over a period of 6 months. Additionally, an active control group took a series of self-directed, computerized music (piano) lessons (MUS; n = 12), while a no-contact control group did not engage in any intervention (CON; n = 13). After training, a within-subject increase in grey matter within the hippocampus was significant only in the VID training group, replicating results observed in younger adults. Active control MUS training did, however, lead to a within-subject increase in the DLPFC, while both the VID and MUS training produced growth in the cerebellum. In contrast, the CON group displayed significant grey matter loss in the hippocampus, cerebellum and the DLPFC.

Comparison of brain connectivity between Internet gambling disorder and Internet gaming disorder: A preliminary study

Background and aims Given the similarities in clinical symptoms, Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is thought to be diagnostically similar to Internet-based gambling disorder (ibGD). However, cognitive enhancement and educational use of Internet gaming suggest that the two disorders derive from different neurobiological mechanisms. The goal of this study was to compare subjects with ibGD to those with IGD. Methods Fifteen patients with IGD, 14 patients with ibGD, and 15 healthy control subjects were included in this study. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data for all participants were acquired using a 3.0 Tesla MRI scanner (Philips, Eindhoven, The Netherlands). Seed-based analyses, the three brain networks of default mode, cognitive control, and reward circuitry, were performed. Results Both IGD and ibGD groups demonstrated decreased functional connectivity (FC) within the default-mode network (DMN) (family-wise error p < .001) compared with healthy control subjects. However, the IGD group demonstrated increased FC within the cognitive network compared with both the ibGD (p < .01) and healthy control groups (p < .01). In contrast, the ibGD group demonstrated increased FC within the reward circuitry compared with both IGD (p < .01) and healthy control subjects (p < .01). Discussion and conclusions The IGD and ibGD groups shared the characteristic of decreased FC in the DMN. However, the IGD group demonstrated increased FC within the cognitive network compared with both ibGD and healthy comparison groups.

Neural Basis of Enhanced Executive Function in Older Video Game Players: An fMRI Study

Video games have been found to have positive influences on executive function in older adults; however, the underlying neural basis of the benefits from video games has been unclear. Adopting a task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study targeted at the flanker task, the present study aims to explore the neural basis of the improved executive function in older adults with video game experiences. Twenty video game players (VGPs) and twenty non-video game players (NVGPs) of 60 years of age or older participated in the present study, and there are no significant differences in age (t = 0.62, p = 0.536), gender ratio (t = 1.29, p = 0.206) and years of education (t = 1.92, p = 0.062) between VGPs and NVGPs. The results show that older VGPs present significantly better behavioral performance than NVGPs. Older VGPs activate greater than NVGPs in brain regions, mainly in frontal-parietal areas, including the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the left supramarginal gyrus, the right angular gyrus, the right precuneus and the left paracentral lobule. The present study reveals that video game experiences may have positive influences on older adults in behavioral performance and the underlying brain activation. These results imply the potential role that video games can play as an effective tool to improve cognitive ability in older adults.

Exploring the relationship between video game expertise and fluid intelligence

Hundreds of millions of people play intellectually-demanding video games every day. What does individual performance on these games tell us about cognition? Here, we describe two studies that examine the potential link between intelligence and performance in one of the most popular video games genres in the world (Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas: MOBAs). In the first study, we show that performance in the popular MOBA League of Legends’ correlates with fluid intelligence as measured under controlled laboratory conditions. In the second study, we also show that the age profile of performance in the two most widely-played MOBAs (League of Legends and DOTA II) matches that of raw fluid intelligence. We discuss and extend previous videogame literature on intelligence and videogames and suggest that commercial video games can be useful as 'proxy' tests of cognitive performance at a global population level.

An interactive sports video game as an intervention for rehabilitation of community-living patients with schizophrenia: A controlled, single-blind, crossover study

Hypofrontality is a state of decreased cerebral blood flow in the prefrontal cortex during executive function performance; it is commonly observed in patients with schizophrenia. Cognitive dysfunction, as well as the psychological symptoms of schizophrenia, influences the ability of patients to reintegrate into society. The current study investigated the effects of an interactive sports video game (IVG; Nintendo Wii™ Sports Resort) on frontal lobe function of patients with schizophrenia. A sample of eight patients (6 male and 2 female; mean age = 46.7 years, standard deviation (SD) = 13.7) engaged in an IVG every week for 3 months in a controlled, single-blind, crossover study. Before and after the intervention we examined frontal lobe blood-flow volume using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and assessed functional changes using the Frontal Assessment Battery, Health-Related Quality of Life scale, and behaviorally-assessed physical function tests. fNIRS revealed that prefrontal activity during IVG performance significantly increased in the IVG period compared with the control period. Furthermore, significant correlations between cerebral blood flow changes in different channels were observed during IVG performance. In addition, we observed intervention-related improvement in health-related quality of life following IVG. IVG intervention was associated with increased prefrontal cortex activation and improved health-related quality of life performance in patients with schizophrenia. Patients with chronic schizophrenia are characterized by withdrawal and a lack of social responsiveness or interest in others. Interventions using IVG may provide a useful low-cost rehabilitation method for such patients, without the need for specialized equipment.

Cognitive Flexibility Training: A Large-Scale Multimodal Adaptive Active-Control Intervention Study in Healthy Older Adults

As aging is associated with cognitive decline, particularly in the executive functions, it is essential to effectively improve cognition in older adults. Online cognitive training is currently a popular, though controversial method. Although some changes seem possible in older adults through training, far transfer, and longitudinal maintenance are rarely seen. Based on previous literature we created a unique, state-of-the-art intervention study by incorporating frequent sessions and flexible, novel, adaptive training tasks, along with an active control group. We created a program called TAPASS (Training Project Amsterdam Seniors and Stroke), a randomized controlled trial. Healthy older adults (60–80 y.o.) were assigned to a frequent- (FS) or infrequent switching (IS) experimental condition or to the active control group and performed 58 half-hour sessions over the course of 12 weeks. Effects on executive functioning, processing- and psychomotor speed, planning, verbal long term memory, verbal fluency, and reasoning were measured on four time points before, during and after the training. Additionally, we examined the explorative question which individual aspects added to training benefit. Besides improvements on the training, we found significant time effects on multiple transfer tasks in all three groups that likely reflected retest effects. No training-specific improvements were detected, and we did not find evidence of additional benefits of individual characteristics. Judging from these results, the therapeutic value of using commercially available training games to train the aging brain is modest, though any apparent effects should be ascribed more to expectancy and motivation than to the elements in our training protocol. Our results emphasize the importance of using parallel tests as outcome measures for transfer and including both active and passive control conditions. Further investigation into different training methods is advised, including stimulating social interaction and the use of more variable, novel, group-based yet individual-adjusted exercises.

Altered hippocampal volume and functional connectivity in males with Internet gaming disorder comparing to those with alcohol use disorder

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has been conceptualized as a behavioral addiction and shares clinical, neuropsychological, and personality characteristics with alcohol use disorder (AUD), but IGD dose not entail brain exposure to toxic agents, which renders it different from AUD. To achieve a clear understanding of the neurobiological features of IGD, we aimed to identify morphological and functional changes in IGD and compare them with those in AUD. Individuals with IGD showed larger volume in the hippocampus/amygdala and precuneus than healthy controls (HCs). The volume in the hippocampus positively correlated with the symptom severity of IGD. Moreover, functional connectivity analysis with the hippocampus/amygdala cluster revealed that the left ventromedial prefrontal cortex showed stronger functional connectivity in individuals with IGD compared to those with AUD. In contrast, individuals with AUD exhibited the smaller cerebellar volume and thinner medial frontal cortex than HCs. The volume in the cerebellum correlated with impaired working memory function as well as duration of illness in AUD group. Findings suggested that altered volume and functional connectivity in the hippocampus/amygdala in IGD might be associated with abnormally enhanced memory process of gaming-related cues, while abnormal cortical changes and cognitive impairments in AUD might be associated with neurotoxic effects of alcohol.

Action Video Game Experience Related to Altered Large-Scale White Matter Networks

With action video games (AVGs) becoming increasingly popular worldwide, the cognitive benefits of AVG experience have attracted continuous research attention over the past two decades. Research has repeatedly shown that AVG experience can causally enhance cognitive ability and is related to neural plasticity in gray matter and functional networks in the brain. However, the relation between AVG experience and the plasticity of white matter (WM) network still remains unclear. WM network modulates the distribution of action potentials, coordinating the communication between brain regions and acting as the framework of neural networks. And various types of cognitive deficits are usually accompanied by impairments of WM networks. Thus, understanding this relation is essential in assessing the influence of AVG experience on neural plasticity and using AVG experience as an interventional tool for impairments of WM networks. Using graph theory, this study analyzed WM networks in AVG experts and amateurs. Results showed that AVG experience is related to altered WM networks in prefrontal networks, limbic system, and sensorimotor networks, which are related to cognitive control and sensorimotor functions. These results shed new light on the influence of AVG experience on the plasticity of WM networks and suggested the clinical applicability of AVG experience.

Structural brain changes are associated with response of negative symptoms to prefrontal repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in patients with schizophrenia

Impaired neural plasticity may be a core pathophysiological process underlying the symptomatology of schizophrenia. Plasticity-enhancing interventions, including repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), may improve difficult-to-treat symptoms; however, efficacy in large clinical trials appears limited. The high variability of rTMS-related treatment response may be related to a comparably large variation in the ability to generate plastic neural changes. The aim of the present study was to determine whether negative symptom improvement in schizophrenia patients receiving rTMS to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) was related to rTMS-related brain volume changes. A total of 73 schizophrenia patients with predominant negative symptoms were randomized to an active (n=34) or sham (n=39) 10-Hz rTMS intervention applied 5 days per week for 3 weeks to the left DLPFC. Local brain volume changes measured by deformation-based morphometry were correlated with changes in negative symptom severity using a repeated-measures analysis of covariance design. Volume gains in the left hippocampal, parahippocampal and precuneal cortices predicted negative symptom improvement in the active rTMS group (all r⩽-0.441, all P⩽0.009), but not the sham rTMS group (all r⩽0.211, all P⩾0.198). Further analyses comparing negative symptom responders (⩾20% improvement) and non-responders supported the primary analysis, again only in the active rTMS group (F_{(9, 207)}=2.72, P=0.005, partial η ²=0.106). Heterogeneity in clinical response of negative symptoms in schizophrenia to prefrontal high-frequency rTMS may be related to variability in capacity for structural plasticity, particularly in the left hippocampal region and the precuneus.

Neural Basis of Video Gaming: A Systematic Review

Background: Video gaming is an increasingly popular activity in contemporary society, especially among young people, and video games are increasing in popularity not only as a research tool but also as a field of study. Many studies have focused on the neural and behavioral effects of video games, providing a great deal of video game derived brain correlates in recent decades. There is a great amount of information, obtained through a myriad of methods, providing neural correlates of video games.

Objectives: We aim to understand the relationship between the use of video games and their neural correlates, taking into account the whole variety of cognitive factors that they encompass.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted using standardized search operators that included the presence of video games and neuro-imaging techniques or references to structural or functional brain changes. Separate categories were made for studies featuring Internet Gaming Disorder and studies focused on the violent content of video games.

Results: A total of 116 articles were considered for the final selection. One hundred provided functional data and 22 measured structural brain changes. One-third of the studies covered video game addiction, and 14% focused on video game related violence.

Conclusions: Despite the innate heterogeneity of the field of study, it has been possible to establish a series of links between the neural and cognitive aspects, particularly regarding attention, cognitive control, visuospatial skills, cognitive workload, and reward processing. However, many aspects could be improved. The lack of standardization in the different aspects of video game related research, such as the participants' characteristics, the features of each video game genre and the diverse study goals could contribute to discrepancies in many related studies.

Taking control! Structural and behavioural plasticity in response to game-based inhibition training in older adults

While previous attempts to train self-control in humans have frequently failed, we set out to train response inhibition using computer-game elements. We trained older adults with a newly developed game-based inhibition training on a tablet for two months and compared them to an active and passive control group. Behavioural effects reflected in shorter stop signal response times that were observed only in the inhibition-training group. This was accompanied by structural growth in cortical thickness of right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) triangularis, a brain region that has been associated with response inhibition. The structural plasticity effect was positively associated with time spent on the training-task and predicted the final percentage of successful inhibition trials in the stop task. The data provide evidence for successful trainability of inhibition when game-based training is employed. The results extend our knowledge on game-based cognitive training effects in older age and may foster treatment research in psychiatric diseases related to impulse control.

Structural alterations in the prefrontal cortex mediate the relationship between Internet gaming disorder and depressed mood

Adaptive gaming use has positive effects, whereas depression has been reported to be prevalent in Internet gaming disorder (IGD). However, the neural correlates underlying the association between depression and Internet gaming remain unclear. Moreover, the neuroanatomical profile of the striatum in IGD is relatively less clear despite its important role in addiction. We found lower gray matter (GM) density in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in the IGD group than in the Internet gaming control (IGC) group and non-gaming control (NGC) group, and the GM density was associated with lifetime usage of Internet gaming, depressed mood, craving, and impulsivity in the gaming users. Striatal volumetric analysis detected a significant reduction in the right nucleus accumbens (NAcc) in the IGD group and its association with lifetime usage of gaming and depression. These findings suggest that alterations in the brain structures involved in the reward system are associated with IGD-related behavioral characteristics. Furthermore, the DLPFC, involved in cognitive control, was observed to serve as a mediator in the association between prolonged gaming and depressed mood. This finding may provide insight into an intervention strategy for treating IGD with comorbid depression.

Greater cerebellar gray matter volume in car drivers: an exploratory voxel-based morphometry study

Previous functional neuroimaging studies have identified multiple brain areas associated with distinct aspects of car driving in simulated traffic environments. Few studies, however, have examined brain morphology associated with everyday car-driving experience in real traffic. Thus, the aim of the current study was to identify gray matter volume differences between drivers and non-drivers. We collected T1-weighted structural brain images from 73 healthy young adults (36 drivers and 37 non-drivers). We performed a whole-brain voxel-based morphometry analysis to examine between-group differences in regional gray matter volume. Compared with non-drivers, drivers showed significantly greater gray matter volume in the left cerebellar hemisphere, which has been associated with cognitive rather than motor functioning. In contrast, we found no brain areas with significantly greater gray matter volume in non-drivers compared with drivers. Our findings indicate that experience with everyday car driving in real traffic is associated with greater gray matter volume in the left cerebellar hemisphere. This brain area may be involved in abilities that are critical for driving a car, but are not commonly or frequently used during other daily activities.

Video Games and Hippocampus-Dependent Learning

Research examining the impact of video games on neural systems has largely focused on visual attention and motor control. Recent evidence now shows that video games can also impact the hippocampal memory system. Further, action and 3D-platform video-game genres are thought to have differential impacts on this system. In this review, we examine the specific design elements unique to either action or 3D-platform video games and break down how they could either favor or discourage use of the hippocampal memory system during gameplay. Analysis is based on well-established principles of hippocampus-dependent and non-hippocampus-dependent forms of learning from the human and rodent literature.

Assessing Relevance of External Cognitive Measures

The arrival of modern brain imaging technologies has provided new opportunities for examining the biological essence of human intelligence as well as the relationship between brain size and cognition. Thanks to these advances, we can now state that the relationship between brain size and intelligence has never been well understood. This view is supported by findings showing that cognition is correlated more with brain tissues than sheer brain size. The complexity of cellular and molecular organization of neural connections actually determines the computational capacity of the brain. In this review article, we determine that while genotypes are responsible for defining the theoretical limits of intelligence, what is primarily responsible for determining whether those limits are reached or exceeded is experience (environmental influence). Therefore, we contend that the gene-environment interplay defines the intelligent quotient of an individual.

Effects of Visual Game Experience on Auditory Processing Speed

Games are one of the fastest growing and most exciting forms of entertainment. Whether casual mobile game playing has a cognitive, physiological, or behavioral effect on players whose game use is not pathological is unknown. Here we explored whether preattentive auditory processing is linked to the behavioral inhibition system (BIS) in frequent and infrequent game players. A total of 74 subjects who were enrolled in our study were divided into two groups, 40 subjects were frequent gamers and 34 subjects were age-, gender-, IQ-, and education-matched infrequent gamers. All participants underwent a passive auditory oddball paradigm and completed the behavioral inhibition/behavioral activation system scales. The mismatch negativity (MMN) latency was shorter for the frequent gamers relative to the infrequent gamers, whereas no difference in MMN amplitude was found between groups. MMN amplitude was negatively associated with the degree of behavioral inhibition in the frequent and infrequent gaming group. We also found that those who frequently play games show an enhanced processing speed, which could be an effect of game practice. Greater behavioral inhibition induces increased vigilance, and this may have enhanced the MMN amplitude in the infrequent gamers. This differential pattern of correlations suggests that differences in the BIS could lead to different approaches to auditory information processing.

The protective properties of Act-Belong-Commit indicators against incident depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairment among older Irish adults: Findings from a prospective community-based study

The Act-Belong-Commit campaign is the world's first comprehensive, population-wide, community-based program designed to promote mental health. The campaign targets individuals to engage in mentally healthy activities, while at the same time, encouraging community organizations that offer such activities, to increase participation in their activities. Using nationally-representative data from Ireland, the aim of this study was to prospectively assess the association between indicators of the Act-Belong-Commit behavioral domains and incident depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairment. Data from two consecutive waves of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) were analyzed. The analytical sample consisted of 6098 adults aged ≥50years. Validated scales for depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairment were used. The number of social/recreational activities engaged in was used as an indicator of Act, social network integration as an indicator of Belong, and frequency of participation in these social/recreational activities as an indicator of Commit. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess associations between baseline indicators of Act-Belong-Commit and incident depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairment at two-year follow-up. The adjusted model showed that each increase in the number of social/recreational activities (Act) inversely predicted the onset of depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairment. The same was the case for social network integration (Belong); that is, being well integrated into social networks was a significant protective factor against all mental health outcomes. Finally, frequency of participation in social/recreational activities (Commit) significantly and inversely predicted the onset of depression and anxiety, while the protective effect against cognitive impairment was only marginally significant. Act-Belong-Commit indicators are shown to be protective against mental disorders and cognitive impairment among older Irish adults. This provides further evidence for the campaign's potential efficacy and has potentially wide-ranging implications for preventing the deterioration of mental health and cognitive decline in the aging community.

An Update Overview on Brain Imaging Studies of Internet Gaming Disorder

There are a growing number of studies on structural and functional brain mechanisms underlying Internet gaming disorder (IGD). Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging studies showed that IGD adolescents and adults had reduced gray matter volume in regions associated with attention motor coordination executive function and perception. Adolescents with IGD showed lower white matter (WM) integrity measures in several brain regions that are involved in decision-making, behavioral inhibition, and emotional regulation. IGD adolescents had also disruption in the functional connectivity in areas responsible for learning memory and executive function, processing of auditory, visual, and somatosensory stimuli and relay of sensory and motor signals. IGD adolescents also had decreased functional connectivity of PFC-striatal circuits, increased risk-taking choices, and impaired ability to control their impulses similar to other impulse control disorders. Recent studies indicated that altered executive control mechanisms in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) would be a predisposition for developing IGD. Finally, patients with IGD have also shown an increased functional connectivity of several executive control brain regions that may related to comorbidity with ADHD and depression. The behavioral addiction model argues that IGD shows the features of excessive use despite adverse consequences, withdrawal phenomena, and tolerance that characterize substance use disorders. The evidence supports the behavioral addiction model of IGD by showing structural and functional changes in the mechanisms of reward and craving (but not withdrawal) in IGD. Future studies need to investigate WM density and functional connectivity in IGD in order to validate these findings. Furthermore, more research is required about the similarity in neurochemical and neurocognitive brain circuits in IGD and comorbid conditions such as ADHD and depression.

The Information and Communication Technology User Role: Implications for the Work Role and Inter-Role Spillover

Management and organization research has traditionally focused on employees' work role and the interface between their work and family roles. We suggest that persons assume a third role in modern society that is relevant to work and organizations, namely the Information and Communication Technology User (ICTU) role. Based on role theory and boundary theory, we develop propositions about the characteristics of this role, as well as how ICTU role characteristics are related to boundary spanning activity, inter-role spillover with the work role, and work role performance. To this end, we first conceptualize the ICTU role and its associations with work and family roles. We then apply identity theory and boundary management theory to advance our understanding of how the ICTU role is related to criteria that are important to individuals and to organizations, namely self-selection into certain types of work roles and positive and negative inter-role spillover. The implications of this role for theory, research, and practice in management and organizations are discussed.

Sex Differences in Gray Matter Volume of the Right Anterior Hippocampus Explain Sex Differences in Three-Dimensional Mental Rotation

Behavioral studies have reported that males perform better than females in 3-dimensional (3D) mental rotation. Given the important role of the hippocampus in spatial processing, the present study investigated whether structural differences in the hippocampus could explain the sex difference in 3D mental rotation. Results showed that after controlling for brain size, males had a larger anterior hippocampus, whereas females had a larger posterior hippocampus. Gray matter volume (GMV) of the right anterior hippocampus was significantly correlated with 3D mental rotation score. After controlling GMV of the right anterior hippocampus, sex difference in 3D mental rotation was no longer significant. These results suggest that the structural difference between males’ and females’ right anterior hippocampus was a neurobiological substrate for the sex difference in 3D mental rotation.

Structural but not functional neuroplasticity one year after effective cognitive behaviour therapy for social anxiety disorder

Effective psychiatric treatments ameliorate excessive anxiety and induce neuroplasticity immediately after the intervention, indicating that emotional components in the human brain are rapidly adaptable. Still, the interplay between structural and functional neuroplasticity is poorly understood, and studies of treatment-induced long-term neuroplasticity are rare. Functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (using 3T MRI) was performed in 13 subjects with social anxiety disorder on 3 occasions over 1year. All subjects underwent 9 weeks of Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy in a randomized cross-over design and independent assessors used the Clinically Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) scale to determine treatment response. Gray matter (GM) volume, assessed with voxel-based morphometry, and functional blood-oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) responsivity to self-referential criticism were compared between treatment responders and non-responders using 2×2 (group×time; pretreatment to follow-up) ANOVA. At 1-year follow-up, 7 (54%) subjects were classified as CGI-I responders. Left amygdala GM volume was more reduced in responders relative to non-responders from pretreatment to 1-year follow-up (Z=3.67, Family-Wise Error corrected p=0.02). In contrast to previous short-term effects, altered BOLD activations to self-referential criticism did not separate responder groups at follow-up. The structure and function of the amygdala changes immediately after effective psychological treatment of social anxiety disorder, but only reduced amygdala GM volume, and not functional activity, is associated with a clinical response 1year after CBT.