Summary: Children who play video games three or more hours per day showed stronger performance on cognitive tests of working memory and impulse control compared with children who do not play video games.
Source: NIH
A study of nearly 2,000 children found that those who reported playing video games for three hours per day or more performed better on tests of working memory and impulse control than children who had never played video games.
Published in JAMA Network Open, this analysis used baseline data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, an ongoing, large-scale NIH-supported project. Researchers examined survey responses, cognitive testing results, and task-based functional MRI (fMRI) brain imaging collected when participants were 9 and 10 years old.
“This study adds to our understanding of how video gaming may relate to brain development,” said NIDA Director Nora Volkow, M.D. While prior research has highlighted links between gaming and behavioral or mental health concerns, these new results point to possible cognitive benefits that deserve further study.
Previous neuroimaging studies of gaming and cognition have been limited by small sample sizes. To address that gap, scientists at the University of Vermont analyzed data from nearly 2,000 children drawn from the broader ABCD cohort. Participants were grouped into two categories: children who reported no video gaming and children who reported playing video games three or more hours per day. The three-hour threshold was chosen because it exceeds American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations of one to two hours of recreational screen time for older children.
Investigators compared how the two groups performed on two cognitive tasks designed to measure response inhibition (impulse control) and working memory. They also compared brain activity recorded by fMRI while children completed those tasks.
Children who played video games for three or more hours daily were both faster and more accurate on the tasks than children who had never played. Functional MRI analyses showed that frequent gamers exhibited greater activity in brain regions tied to attention and memory during task performance. At the same time, they showed increased activation in frontal areas associated with cognitively demanding processes and relatively lower activity in primary visual areas.
Researchers suggest these patterns could reflect experience-related changes from repeated gaming. Many video games require sustained attention, quick decisions, memory updating, and impulse control—skills that may be exercised frequently during play. Lower activity in visual cortex regions among frequent gamers may indicate increased efficiency in visual processing after repeated practice.
Although some prior studies have linked video gaming to higher rates of depression, aggressive behavior, or violence, this study did not find statistically significant associations between gaming and elevated mental health or behavioral problems. While players who reported three or more hours of gaming did report somewhat higher mental health and behavioral scores, those differences did not reach statistical significance in this analysis. The authors note this is an important outcome to follow as participants grow older.
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot establish causation. It remains possible that children with stronger working memory and impulse-control skills are more likely to choose video gaming. The authors also emphasize that their findings do not justify unlimited screen time; outcomes likely depend on the nature of the activity. Different game genres—action-adventure, puzzles, sports, or shooting games—may affect neurocognitive development differently, and this study did not distinguish among game types.
“While we cannot conclude that playing video games caused better cognitive performance, the association is encouraging and warrants further study as these children mature,” said Bader Chaarani, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont and the study’s lead author. He noted the importance for parents and clinicians to understand both potential benefits and risks as gaming remains a widespread activity among youth.
The ABCD Study’s longitudinal design will allow researchers to track the same children over time to see whether changes in gaming behavior are linked to changes in cognitive skills, brain function, behavior, or mental health. Because the ABCD Study collects extensive data—including MRI measures of brain structure and function, psychological assessments, environmental information, and biological samples—future analyses can better account for influences such as sleep, exercise, family environment, and other factors that shape development.
The ABCD Study is the largest longitudinal study of brain development and child health in the United States, following nearly 12,000 youth into young adulthood. Its goal is to identify the factors that influence brain, cognitive, and socioemotional development to inform interventions that support healthier life trajectories.
The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study and ABCD Study are registered service marks and trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
About this cognition and gaming research news
Author: NIDA Press Office
Source: NIH
Contact: NIDA Press Office – NIH
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Open access. “Video gaming may be associated with better cognitive performance in children” by B. Chaarani et al., JAMA Network Open.
Abstract
Video gaming may be associated with better cognitive performance in children
Importance
Most prior research has focused on links between video gaming and later increases in aggressive behavior, but results have been mixed regarding gaming’s relationship with cognitive skills such as working memory and response inhibition.
Objective
To examine associations between video gaming and cognition in children using baseline data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.
Design, Setting, and Participants
This case-control analysis compared cognitive performance and blood oxygen level–dependent (BOLD) fMRI signals during response inhibition and working memory tasks between video gamers (VGs) and non–video gamers (NVGs) in a large sample of 9- and 10-year-olds from the ABCD 2.0.1 release. The sample was recruited across 21 U.S. sites to reflect demographic variation. Children with valid neuroimaging and behavioral data were included; common MRI contraindications and major neurologic disorders were excluded.
Exposures
Participants completed a self-report screen time survey that included time spent on video gaming. All participants performed the fMRI tasks.
Main Outcomes and Measures
Video gaming time, cognitive task performance, and BOLD signals measured during n-back (working memory) and stop-signal (inhibitory control) tasks. Data were analyzed between October 2019 and October 2020.
Results
A total of 2217 children (mean age about 9.9 years) were included. Comparisons involved groups reporting 0 hours per week versus those reporting at least 21 hours per week (roughly three or more hours per day). Gamers performed better on both fMRI tasks. fMRI analyses showed greater BOLD signal in gamers in regions such as the precuneus during inhibitory control, and a mix of smaller BOLD signals in parts of the occipital cortex and larger signals in cingulate, frontal, and precuneus regions during working memory.
Conclusions and Relevance
Compared with non-gamers, children who played video games showed better performance on tasks involving response inhibition and working memory, along with altered cortical activation patterns in regions responsible for visual processing, attention, and memory. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that video gaming may influence cognitive abilities and their underlying neural pathways, though causal relationships cannot be established from this cross-sectional analysis.