Effects of excessive video game playing on event-related brain potentials during working memory

Abstract

The effect of excessive video game playing on cognitive function is a new and controversial topic. Brain imaging studies indicate that the neural effects of excessive internet/ game play or addiction are similar to those observed in substance addiction and pathological gambling. However, it remains unclear whether excessive video game players (EVGPs) show altered behavioral and brain (event-related potentials; ERP) responses during cognitive tasks when compared to non-players (NPs). We measured ERP responses of EVGPs (n = 20) and NPs (n = 20) during a visual working memory (WM) task. Contrary to our hypothesis, the behavioral results indicated that the two groups had similar WM performance. However, the EVGP group showed significantly longer reaction times during incorrect responses when asked to decide whether a stimulus was correctly located with respect to the originally encoded set. In support of our hypothesis, the EVGPs showed smaller P300 and negative slow wave (NSW) amplitude than NPs during the misleading condition of the WM task. Reduced P300 and NSW amplitude in EVGPs may reflect impaired WM maintenance.