The Brain Science Behind Video Game Addiction: What Makes Them So Hard to Put Down?

In my experience of playing games for almost all of my existence, as well as my experience helping families and individuals overcome video game addiction, I've witnessed the incredible impact video games can have on people's lives both positively and negatively. I’ve seen life long friendships formed, excitement, passion, and achievement. At the same time, I've seen the struggle that comes with video game addiction and its effects on mental and physical health, relationships, and daily responsibilities. It's important to acknowledge that video games can be great in balance, and can be destructive if the video game use passes the line into addiction. But what exactly makes video games so compelling and why do some people find it hard to put them down? In this blog post, we'll delve into the fascinating science behind video game addiction and discover what makes it so alluring.

The Mind-Blowing Neuroscience of Video Game Addiction

Have you ever been lost in a video game, not realizing how much time has passed? Video games have an engagement and reward cycle that can be gripping like no other. Video games activate the reward centers in our brains, causing a rush of dopamine, a chemical linked to pleasure and rewards. When you receive an in-game reward, when you complete an objective, when you beat that hard level, or when you carry your team to victory, your brain gets flooded with dopamine. Not only that, but you get a lot of it in high frequency, and you have to spend very little physical effort. This flood of dopamine reinforces our behavior and makes us want to keep playing. Over time, our brain begins to associate playing video games with this pleasurable feeling, and this leads to wanting to play more.

How Game Design Contributes to Addiction

Game designers are well aware of the impact that video games can have on our brains and use this knowledge to create highly engaging and addictive games. More now than ever, games are being designed to keep the player playing for a long period of time. If you look at most games, in particular online games, there is almost a requirement to set aside a few hours in order to make any meaningful progress. Old video games were like a comic strip that you could read quickly and put down; modern video games are like a chapter book that requires a time dedication to make any meaningful progress. A paper published in the "Journal of Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking" (Przybylski, A., et al., 2010) found that game designers use elements such as incremental progress, competition with others, and the ability to personalize the gaming experience to keep players hooked. These elements work together to create a highly addictive gaming environment.

The Long-Term Effects of Video Game Play on the Brain

While excessive video game play can have negative consequences for the brain, it's important to note that playing video games in moderation can also have positive effects. Video games have been shown to improve visual attention and decision-making skills (Bavelier, Davidson, & Treasurywala, 2012). They can also have therapeutic benefits, such as reducing anxiety and depression in some individuals (Gentile et al., 2011). Furthermore, video games can enhance spatial cognition and increase creativity (Feng, Spence, & Pratt, 2007).

However, it's important to keep in mind that the key here is moderation. Excessive video game play can lead to changes in the brain's gray matter volume and functional connectivity in regions associated with attention, impulse control, and decision-making (Kühn et al., 2016). In addition, remember that reward and pleasure center of the brain we talked about earlier? Playing excessively can cause your mind to get used to having extremely high amounts of dopamine, which causes other activities to be extremely boring and difficult to be motivated for in comparison. Finally, video games do a really good job of shutting off the part of your mind that attends to your emotions which can lead to emotional numbness. These changes can potentially have negative consequences for individuals who engage in excessive video game play and may contribute to the development of addictive behaviors.

Conclusion:

More and more, modern video games are being designed in a way that promotes spending more time playing and less time doing other things. The science behind video game addiction is complex and multi-faceted, but understanding it is crucial to helping maintain balance. Whether you are struggling with video game addiction yourself or know someone who is, it's important to recognize that this is a significant problem that can have long-lasting effects on our lives both positively and negatively. Arming yourself with this knowledge can help you take steps to begin finding balance.

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Reference:

Przybylski, A., Rigby, C., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). A motivational model of video game engagement. Review of General Psychology, 14(2), 154-166.

Kuss, DJ & Griffiths, MD. (2012). Internet gaming addiction: a systematic review of empirical research. Journal of Affective Disorders, 140(3), 198-206.

Bavelier, D., Davidson, R.J., & Treasurywala, A. (2012). The positive and negative effects of video games on cognition. In F. Pons, A. Mariette, & J. Guillot (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Engineering (pp. 271-289). Oxford University Press.

Gentile, D.A., Anderson, C.A., Yukawa, S., Ihori, N., Saleem, M., Ming, L.K., … Liau, A.K. (2011). The effects of prosocial video games on prosocial behaviors: International evidence from correlational, longitudinal, and experimental studies. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15(2), 167-183.

Feng, J., Spence, I., & Pratt, J. (2007). Playing an action video game reduces gender differences in spatial cognition. Psychological Science, 18(10), 850-855.

Kühn, S., Gleich, T., Lorenz, R.C., Lindenberger, U., & Gallinat, J. (2016). The neural basis of video gaming. Nature Human Behaviour, 1(8), 761-769. doi:10.1038/s41562-016-0070