Scientific article
English

Neural basis of superior performance of action videogame players in an attention-demanding task

Published inThe Journal of neuroscience, vol. 31, no. 3, p. 992-998
Publication date2011
Abstract

Steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) were recorded from action videogame players (VGPs) and from non-videogame players (NVGPs) during an attention-demanding task. Participants were presented with a multi-stimulus display consisting of rapid sequences of alphanumeric stimuli presented at rates of 8.6/12 Hz in the left/right peripheral visual fields, along with a central square at fixation flashing at 5.5 Hz and a letter sequence flashing at 15 Hz at an upper central location. Subjects were cued to attend to one of the peripheral or central stimulus sequences and detect occasional targets. Consistent with previous behavioral studies, VGPs detected targets with greater speed and accuracy than NVGPs. This behavioral advantage was associated with an increased suppression of SSVEP amplitudes to unattended peripheral sequences in VGPs relative to NVGPs, whereas the magnitude of the attended SSVEPs was equivalent in the two groups. Group differences were also observed in the event-related potentials to targets in the alphanumeric sequences, with the target-elicited P300 component being of larger amplitude in VGPS than NVGPs. These electrophysiological findings suggest that the superior target detection capabilities of the VGPs are attributable, at least in part, to enhanced suppression of distracting irrelevant information and more effective perceptual decision processes

Affiliation entities Not a UNIGE publication
Funding
  • Autre - Multidiciplinary University Research Initiative Grant N00014-07-1-0937 from the Office of Naval Research and National Institutes of Health Grants MH82790, MH86385, EY016984, and EY016880
Citation (ISO format)
MISHRA, Jyoti et al. Neural basis of superior performance of action videogame players in an attention-demanding task. In: The Journal of neuroscience, 2011, vol. 31, n° 3, p. 992–998. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4834-10.2011
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Article (Published version)
accessLevelRestricted
Identifiers
Journal ISSN0270-6474
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