Brain activity during video gaming

By Lumos Labs Science Associate Paul Li, MS Neuroscience.

Males are bigger consumers than females when it comes to mainstream video games. A possible reason males enjoy playing (and end up addicted to) video games might be attributed to how the male brain is wired when compared to the female brain, particularly in the reward and addiction system.

Dr. Fumiko Hoeft and colleagues had subjects play a video game that involves acquiring territory while being scanned in an fMRI machine. Brain areas that showed activation were in the mesocorticolimbic center, along with the nucleus accumbens, amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex. In these areas, male brains had more activation – correlating with how much territory they gained – than female subjects. Since the study showed that males are territorial specimens, a follow-up approach might involve an fMRI study and a game that appeals more to females.

Dr. Fumiko Hoeft told me that, “We only examined one kind of game (one that is based on space infringement). Hence, when other types of games are examined, there may be a totally different response and perhaps females may show bigger physiological responses.” At least in the territorial game, though, female subjects actually “‘turn off certain regions during game play.” A game such as Lumosity’s Word Bubbles has been more popular among females than males and females also had greater improvement in their Brain Performance Index (BPI). We’d be interested in observing how the female and male brain activity compare when the women are more engaged with the game.