Abstract:
Increasing behavioural evidence suggests that video game players (VGPs) show a generalized enhancement in a range of visuospatial abilities, but what underlies these enhancements remains unclear. In this study the Poffenberger paradigm with a concurrent electroencephalogram (EEG) was used to assess interhemispheric transfer time in expert VGPs, a measure of callosal function. Participants comprised 14 right-handed male expert VGPs and 14 matched controls. VGPs began playing before the age of 10, had a minimum of 8 years experience, and maintained a playtime of at least 20 hours per week. Non-video game player (NVGP) participants, who had little to no game play experience, were matched to the VGPs for age, handedness, years of education, and WASI-R estimated Full- Scale IQ. The computerised task required participants to maintain fixation on a centrally-located fixation cross and to respond as soon as they detected a black and white checkerboard circle stimulus presented to the left or right visual field. Evoked potentials were recorded using a 128-channel EEG system. There were no significant group differences between expert VGPs and NVGPs in either behavioural or electrophysiological estimates of interhemispheric transfer time. Expert VGPs had significantly quicker motor response times, more balanced performance on the two hands and earlier occipital event related potentials (N1s) in direct visual pathways (the hemisphere contralateral to the visual field in which the stimulus was presented). These differences are suggested to reflect the experience and training involved during the development of video-game expertise in these VGPs. Successful video-game play requires precise, time pressured, bimanual motor movements in response to complex visual stimuli, which in this sample began during early childhood.
