- A study performed at the Imperial College School of Medicine found that video game users experience increased levels of dopamine release during gaming.
- Findings produce evidence to support claim that the "media ecology" of video games can have a greater influence and impact on users than less interactive media.
- Debate continues over the role that violent video games can play in adolescents becoming predisposed to anti-social and violent behavior.
Gamers use a variety of simulated environments, from warzones to sports games
to puzzle-solving in order to synthetically stimulate reward centers in the brain.
A study performed at the Imperial College School of Medicine in London has significantly linked video game usage with an increase in activity in the brain's reward center. These findings show that playing video games can have a more significant physical and physiological impact on gamers than less interactive media like watching television and or using a computer.
The results of this study are presented in an article in Nature entitled "Evidence for Striatal Dopamine Release During a Video Game". The article describes the experiment in which researchers used a scanning process known as positron emission tomography (PET scan) to map the brains of test subjects while they played a variety of skill-based video games. Eight male test subjects were used in this experiment and were observed while staring at a blank screen (control) and then while playing an interactive computer game in which the player had to navigate a map for monetary reward. The PET scanners allowed researchers to measure activity in different areas of the brain and extrapolate information about how the gamers were physiologically responding to the interactive media. The results of the experiment (see below) show that completing a task or level in a video game produces a significant physiological response in the brain.
Specifically, the PET scans showed decreased levels of dopamine binding at D2 receptor sites when the subject was playing the video game. When a human being completes a task or performs an activity that the brain perceives as positive, it will release a reward chemical known as dopamine into the neural synapses, which produces feelings of happiness, pleasure, and gratification. After dopamine is released, it binds to D2 receptor sites, which cause the rewarding feelings to subside. If decreased levels of D2 binding are seen in in PET scans (as was the case in this experiment) then the dopamine chemical was able to stay in the neural synapses for a longer period of time, producing a longer and more intense feeling of pleasure. The results of the experiment show that, not only was more dopamine produced during video game play, but the level of D2 receptor binding was also significantly decreased.
Figure 1 and Figure 3, taken from the article "Evidence for Striatal Dopamine Release During a Video Game", show
both graphically and visually how video games can increase dopamine release and decrease D2 binding in the brain.
The "ecology" of video game usage elicits greater response than less interactive media
To interpret this information and compare the findings to other forms of media, we can use a theory known as media ecology to analyze the environment in which the media was produced, marketed, and consumed by an audience. According to the definition in the Converging Media textbook, the media ecology theory "examines how media environment influences our thinking... and how specific types of medic affect our perceptions because of the medium used" (pg. 360). A major proponent of media ecology, Marshall McLuhan, went on to state that the medium used to transmit a message was for more important than the actual message or content itself.
While the basis of media ecology had some fundamental flaws, we can still use its general concepts to help understand how video games create a different effect in an audience than other media. As stated above, playing video games can produce a physiological response in the brain the releases chemicals to reward the player for completing a task. This physiological behavior stems from a primal system within the brain to reward someone for completing an evolutionarily positive task. Originally, this system was designed to create a reward when someone was able to find food, shelter or a means of reproduction. However, with the creation and innovation of hyper-realistic video games in the 21st century, we are able to synthetically stimulate these reward systems.
The fact that you are physically interacting with the simulated environment via a controller or keyboard allows your brain to be tricked into releasing and maintaining higher levels of dopamine. While other media such as television and online reading are able to hold your concentration and elicit emotional responses, they do not allow the level of interaction and immersion that is seen in video games.
For example, let us compare a similar message experienced through two different media: Call of Duty vs. Saving Private Ryan. While Saving Private Ryan is an extremely realistic war movie that evokes strong emotional responses from the audience, you would most likely see higher levels of dopamine activity while playing the war-based video game Call of Duty. Because the immersive video games allows you to physically interact with controllers and complete tasks as you move through the levels of the game, your brain is tricked into producing more of a response than if you were sitting on a couch and watching a movie. From this example, we can see how two similar messages, transmitted through different media, can create different reactions in an audience. This ties in well with McLuhan's perspective on the theory of media ecology, and his assertion that "the medium is the message".
The big picture
After discussing the differences in physiological effects that interactive video games can have on the human brain compared to other forms of media, some may be asking, "who cares?". The question is valid, considering the study that is referenced in this article is more than fifteen years old. However, over the past several years, this country has seen horrific instances of young people performing violent acts of murder and terror at schools, colleges, and movie theaters. These terrible acts of violence have sparked a debate as to whether exposure to immersive, violent video games could have contributed to these individuals creating violence in the real world. There are many different sides and perspectives to this debate, which remains heated and ongoing in the public arena.
However, when applying the topics discussed in this article to the debate, we can see how the argument of violent video games contributing to violent behavior may hold some merit. We discussed how the experience of interacting with video games could cause individuals to produce a high levels of physiological response. Using this information, it could be argued that individuals who are already susceptible to violent and anti-social behavior may be affected and/or influenced further by video games. We must keep in mind, however, that this simply speculation, and much more research and study is required to accurately determine a correlation between video games and violent behavior.
References:
- Koepp, M.J., R.N Gunn, and Lawrence A.D. "Evidence for Striatal Dopamine Release during a
Video Game." Nature 939.6682 (1998): 226.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9607763. Web.
- Pavlik, John V. "Chapter 12: Media Theory and Research." Converging Media. a New Introduction
to Mass Communication. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2014. 343-69. Print.
This has an explanatory headline; I am expecting the rest of the article to be about the effects of video games on positive physiological response. I like the information that the first bullet points have. They discuss the headline further giving more background information; it also mentions some controversy in the topic. The first picture is a man playing a video game with many video games in the picture. The main focus of the picture is the stack of video games, which is off centered. In the background, the secondary element is a man playing the video games. It fits the topic well and there is a good caption about how there are many different types of video games that people can play. The rest of the article was very good and detailed in the results of the study, how game usage was linked with increased dopamine release and increased activity in the brains reward center. I really liked how when talking about a scanning process called a PET scan or dopamine, there was a link involved explaining what that was. I think that was very important because a lot of people might not known what a PET scan or dopamine is so it helps readers not feel like it’s too advanced of an article for them. However there wasn’t a link explaining every term that readers might not understand like D2 receptors, or neural synapses. The second picture is a picture from one of the studies involved, I didn’t know exactly what was going on in the pictures but there was an explanatory caption that helped. I found the article interesting with the controversy over weather or not video games contributed to violent behaviors. I also found it fascinating that the reason for the positive physiological response was because you got the satisfaction of completing a task, so it’s really the only form of media that gives you those positive effects. I thought it was a very good article; you were able to clearly get your point across about what the study was about and what the results were. I do think you could have explained some more terms because not everyone might understand the medical terms that were referenced throughout the article, you cant pick and choose which terms to explain.
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