Summary: New longitudinal research identifies patterns of brain activity that can help predict future symptoms of gaming addiction in adolescents. Scans taken when participants were 10–15 years old showed that lower activity in brain regions tied to decision-making and reward anticipation was linked to greater gaming addiction symptoms measured over the following four years.
The study suggests that a reduced neural response to non-gaming rewards may make some teens more vulnerable to problematic gaming. These findings give parents, clinicians, and educators clearer information to balance healthy gaming habits and spot at-risk youth earlier.
Key Facts:
- Identified brain marker: Lower reward-processing activation in specific brain regions predicts later gaming addiction symptoms in adolescents.
- Longitudinal evidence: Functional brain scans taken four years earlier were associated with patterns of gaming-related problems measured over time.
- Practical takeaway: The study highlights the importance of finding a healthy balance for gaming rather than strict prohibition and points toward neural markers that may flag vulnerability.
Source: University of Rochester
Playing video games is a common part of adolescence, but for a subset of kids it can develop into problematic gaming behavior.
“A primary concern for many parents is how much screen time and gaming is appropriate and where to draw the line,” said John Foxe, PhD, director of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester and co-author of the study published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions. “These data begin to give us some answers.”
Researchers examined data from 6,143 self-identified video game users aged roughly 10 to 15 and followed them across four years. In the study’s first year of analysis, participants completed an fMRI scan while performing a Monetary Incentive Delay task that measured brain responses to anticipating a $5 reward. Over the next three years, the same individuals completed the Video Game Addiction Questionnaire (VGAQ) annually.
The team found that lower activation in the brain’s reward-related regions during the initial scan—particularly in the caudate nucleus—was associated with higher VGAQ scores over time. In other words, adolescents who showed a blunted neural response to a monetary reward were more likely to report symptoms associated with gaming addiction during subsequent assessments.
Previous adult studies have pointed to a similar pattern: reduced sensitivity to non-gaming rewards can be linked to heavier gaming use or addiction-like symptoms. This research extends that observation to a large adolescent cohort, highlighting how early differences in reward processing may contribute to later problematic gaming behaviors.
“Gaming itself is not unhealthy, but there is a line, and our study clearly shows that some people are more susceptible to symptoms of gaming addiction than others,” said Daniel Lopez, PhD (’23), a postdoctoral fellow at the Developmental Brain Imaging Lab at Oregon Health & Science University and the study’s first author. “Completely forbidding gaming is rarely feasible and can hinder social and developmental growth. Instead, we need to understand the balance between healthy and unhealthy gaming, and neural markers like these can help identify who may be at greater risk.”
Longitudinal Study is Transforming Teen Brain Health
The data for this analysis came from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a long-term initiative launched in 2015 to track brain development and health from pre-adolescence into adulthood. The ABCD Study enrolled 11,878 children and provides an open-source platform used by researchers nationwide to study social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development during adolescence.
The University of Rochester joined ABCD in 2017 and contributed data from its local cohort. Ed Freedman, PhD, professor of Neuroscience and co-principal investigator of the Rochester site, led the current analysis on gaming.
“This large, carefully collected dataset lets us examine a crucial developmental window and informs recommendations on everything from sleep to screen time,” Freedman said. “Now we can point to specific brain regions associated with gaming-related problems in teens, which opens new avenues for identifying at-risk youth and testing interventions to reduce harm.”
John Foxe added, “We’re proud that Rochester’s contributions to this national effort are part of a global conversation about adolescent health. The findings are already informing how scientists and policymakers think about youth screen use.”
Additional authors on the Journal of Behavioral Addictions paper include Edwin van Wijngaarden, PhD, of the University of Rochester Medical Center and Wesley Thompson, PhD, of the Laureate Institute for Brain Research.
Funding: The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the University of Rochester Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center.
About this gaming addiction and neurodevelopment research news
Author: Kelsie Smith Hayduk
Source: University of Rochester
Contact: Kelsie Smith Hayduk – University of Rochester
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access. “The longitudinal association between reward processing and symptoms of video game addiction in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study” by John Foxe et al., Journal of Behavioral Addictions. DOI: 10.1556/2006.2024.00068
Abstract
The longitudinal association between reward processing and symptoms of video game addiction in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study
Background and aims
Video games are a prevalent form of entertainment in adolescence and can, for a subset of youth, be associated with impairments in reward-related decision-making. This study aimed to examine the relationship between neural reward processing and symptoms of gaming addiction across multiple years in a large adolescent sample.
Methods
Researchers analyzed data from three consecutive follow-up years (years 2, 3 and 4) of the ABCD Study, including 6,143 participants and a total of 12,745 observations (mean age at year 2 ≈ 12 years). At each annual visit, participants completed the Video Game Addiction Questionnaire (VGAQ). Reward processing was measured at the year-2 visit using the Monetary Incentive Delay task during fMRI scanning. Bayesian hierarchical linear models tested the longitudinal association between reward-related brain activity at year 2 and subsequent VGAQ scores.
Results
Lower activation in the bilateral caudate during anticipation of a large reward (β = −0.87, 95% CI: −1.68, −0.07) was associated with higher VGAQ scores over time. This indicates that each one-unit increase in caudate activity corresponded to an approximate 0.87-point decrease in reported gaming addiction symptoms. No reliable association was found between reward feedback responses and VGAQ scores.
Discussion and Conclusions
These results suggest that atypical reward anticipation in the caudate nucleus is linked to greater symptoms of gaming addiction during adolescence. Identifying neural markers associated with vulnerability may help guide early detection, prevention strategies, and targeted interventions to promote healthy gaming habits and reduce the risk of problematic use.