Brain waves reveal video game aptitude

October 24, 2012 in Neuroscience

Brain waves reveal video game aptitude

Enlarge

Those whose brain waves oscillated most powerfully in the alpha spectrum (about 10 times per second) when measured at the front of the head (left EEG readout) tended to learn at a faster rate than those whose brain waves oscillated with less power (readout on the right), the researchers found. Credit: Kyle Mathewson

Scientists report that they can predict who will improve most on an unfamiliar video game by looking at their brain waves.

They describe their findings in a paper in the journal Psychophysiology.

The researchers used electroencephalography (EEG) to peek at in the brains of 39 study subjects before they trained on Space Fortress, a video game developed for cognitive research. The subjects whose brain waves oscillated most powerfully in the alpha spectrum (about 10 times per second, or 10 hertz) when measured at the front of the head tended to learn at a faster rate than those whose brain waves oscillated with less power, the researchers found. None of the subjects were daily video game players.

The was a robust predictor of improvement on the game, said University of Illinois and Beckman Fellow Kyle Mathewson, who led the research with psychology professors and Beckman Institute faculty members Monica Fabiani and Gabriele Gratton.

"By measuring your brain waves the very first time you play the game, we can predict how fast you'll learn over the next month," Mathewson said. The EEG results predicted about half of the difference in learning speeds between study subjects, he said.

The waves of electrical activity across the brain reflect the communication status of millions or billions neurons, Mathewson said.

"By measuring your brain waves the very first time you play the game, we can predict how fast you'll learn over the next month," Mathewson said. The EEG results predicted about half of the difference in learning speeds between study subjects, he said.

The waves of electrical activity across the brain reflect the communication status of millions or billions neurons, Mathewson said.

"These oscillations are the language of the brain, and different represent different brain functions," he said.

The researchers also found that learning to play the game improved subjects' reaction time and working memory (the ability to hold a piece of information in mind just until it is needed), skills that translate to everyday life.

"We found that the people who had more in response to certain aspects of the game ended up having the best improvement in and the best improvement in working memory," Mathewson said.

This project is a part of a larger collaborative effort to determine whether measures of brain activity or brain structure can predict one's ability to learn a new . One analysis, led by Beckman Institute director Art Kramer (an author on this study as well), found that the volume of specific structures in the brain could predict how well people would perform on Space Fortress. That study used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure the relative sizes of different brain structures.

But MRI is expensive and requires that subjects lie immobile inside a giant magnet, Mathewson said. With EEG, researchers can track brain activity fairly inexpensively while subjects are engaged in a task in a less constricted, less artificial environment, he said.

The new findings offer tantalizing clues to the mental states that appear to enhance one's ability to perform complex tasks, Mathewson said. Alpha waves are associated with relaxation, but they also are believed to arise when one is actively inhibiting certain cognitive functions in favor of others, he said. It is possible that everyone could benefit from interventions to increase the strength of their alpha waves in the front of the brain, a region associated with decision-making, attention and self-control.

"You can get people to increase their alpha by giving them some positive feedback," Mathewson said. "And so you could possibly boost this kind of activity before putting them in the game."

More information: Psychophysiology DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2012.01474.x

Provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign search and more info website

5 /5 (6 votes)  

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

Lurker2358
Oct 24, 2012

Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
Please do a study like this on Starcraft 2 players.

Pick 10 players from the bottom of Bronze, 10 players from each league boundary (5 from the top and 5 from the bottom) and 10 players from the top of Grand Master and do scans of their brains as the play one another in all combinations:

Same league vs same league.

Higher leagues vs lower leagues.

I am interested in what makes some starcraft players learn so fast and be able to multitask so much and become nearly invincible players, while other player can practice for years and never get any better, even though they are very smart and understand the tactics and mechanics very well.

As far as I know, there was only one study done on this, and it was insufficient, because it involved only one pro gamer and one casual gamer. My plan was to have a "multi-control" system by having players of each major skill gap level not only play one another, but play those of other leagues.

Needs about 80 players to be scientific enough.
jselin
Oct 24, 2012

Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
^Lurker,

Email a few researchers working in the field and present your idea. Chances are someone will be interested enough to seek funding if they aren't too busy. Somebody has to get the ball rolling...
Lurker2358
Oct 24, 2012

Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
^Lurker,

Email a few researchers working in the field and present your idea. Chances are someone will be interested enough to seek funding if they aren't too busy. Somebody has to get the ball rolling...


Well, the insulting thing about the only study I know of is that that allegedly the pro gamer wasn't even thinking about what he was doing. He was allegedly, according to the scans, "Playing instinctively," which is a laughing stock since it's supposed to be a strategy game.

This leads to two possible conclusions:

1, Either he's so much better/more intelligent than normal people that playing is effortless for him.

or

2, Starcraft actually isn't a strategy game, and turns out to be some sort of reflexes and "brute force" multi-tasking game, in which executing a shitty strategy well is more important than executing a much better strategy less well, which probably isn't far from the truth after all.

How can you strategize if you aren't actually thinking about it?
Lurker2358
Oct 24, 2012

Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
Oh yeah, I wouldn't know who to email about it, or how to get their email. I wish I did though.

Plus if I knew who to email about it I'd volunteer for brain research anyway, because I'm interested in many issues I have, not the least of which is pathetic, worsening APM in RTS games, but also certain borderline "Aspergers-like" symptoms.

And just as an example, day before yesterday there was a brain research program on television where they did a match-sticks equation experiment on a test subject, where he had to correct the equation by moving one stick. At some point, they threw him for a loop with a trick problem which he could not solve. I solved it almost instantly. Well they shocked his brain and then he saw the correct answer afterwards.

They claimed that people with Aspergers can solve such problems easier than normal. Yet another "symptom".

I've never had an MRI or EEG, and definitely not while performing a cognitive task, but that's just what's needed for these studies.
Rank 5 /5 (6 votes)
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Study puts Huntington's disease trials on TRACK

(Medical Xpress)—A three-year multinational study has tracked and detailed the progression of Huntington's disease (HD), predicting clinical decline in people carrying the HD gene more than 10 years before ...

Neuroscience created 14 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Leading researchers report on the elusive search for biomarkers in Huntington's disease

While Huntington's disease (HD) is currently incurable, the HD research community anticipates that new disease-modifying therapies in development may slow or minimize disease progression. The success of HD research depends ...

Neuroscience created 12 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Study shows premature birth interrupts vital brain development processes leading to reduced cognitive abilities

Researchers from King's College London have for the first time used a novel form of MRI to identify crucial developmental processes in the brain that are vulnerable to the effects of premature birth. This new study, published ...

Neuroscience created 15 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers find far-reaching, microvascular damage in uninjured side of brain after stroke

While the effects of acute stroke have been widely studied, brain damage during the subacute phase of stroke has been a neglected area of research. Now, a new study by the University of South Florida reports that within a ...

Neuroscience created 17 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Neurons that can multitask greatly enhance the brain's computational power, study finds

Over the past few decades, neuroscientists have made much progress in mapping the brain by deciphering the functions of individual neurons that perform very specific tasks, such as recognizing the location ...

Neuroscience created 20 hours ago | popularity 4.9 / 5 (11) | comments 1 | with audio podcast


No new H7N9 cases in China for a week

No new human cases of the H7N9 virus have been recorded in China for a week, national health authorities said, for the first time since the outbreak began in March.

Nobel laureate plays down flu pandemic scaremongering

A Nobel prize-winning scientist Tuesday played down "shock-horror scenarios" that a new virus strain will emerge with the potential to kill millions of people.

Genetic predictors of postpartum depression uncovered

Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered specific chemical alterations in two genes that, when present during pregnancy, reliably predict whether a woman will develop postpartum depression.

New immune system discovered

(Medical Xpress)—A research team, led by Jeremy Barr, a biology post-doctoral fellow, unveils a new immune system that protects humans and animals from infection.

Scientists identify molecular trigger for Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have pinpointed a catalytic trigger for the onset of Alzheimer's disease – when the fundamental structure of a protein molecule changes to cause a chain reaction that leads to the death of neurons ...

Child maltreatment increases risk of adult obesity

Children who have suffered maltreatment are 36% more likely to be obese in adulthood compared to non-maltreated children, according to a new study by King's College London. The authors estimate that the prevention or effective ...