Abstract
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.
Highlights
By the end of 2014, the number of individuals in the population over 60 years of age had already reached 212.42 million in China, accounting for 15.5% of the total population (National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China, 2015)
There were no significant differences between the video game players (VGPs) and the non-video game players (NVGPs) in age, gender ratio, years of education or scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE; Folstein et al, 1975), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAT; Spielberger et al, 1970) or the Activities of Daily Living Scale (ADL; Katz et al, 1963)
The behavioral analyses showed that the mean reaction time (RT) in the incongruent-congruent condition of the NVGPs was slower than that of the VGPs
Summary
By the end of 2014, the number of individuals in the population over 60 years of age had already reached 212.42 million in China, accounting for 15.5% of the total population (National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China, 2015). It is predicted that by the middle of this century, the older population will account for 35% of the total population in China (Wu, 2013). With the increasing number of older adults, age-related cognitive decline has been gaining increasing attention. Braver and Barch (2002) claim that executive function may be responsible for age-related declines of the fluid abilities. Executive function seems to have the most ubiquitous consequences (Burgess et al, 1998), given that it is relevant for numerous functions such as planning, working memory, and mental flexibility as well as the monitoring of action (Chan et al, 2008) and adaptation to new situations (Collette et al, 2006). Braver and Barch (2002) claim that executive function may be responsible for age-related declines of the fluid abilities.
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