Selective reward responses to violent success events during video games

Event-related prefrontal activations during online video game playing are modulated by game mechanics, physiological arousal and the amount of daily playing

There is a trend to study human brain functions in ecological contexts and in relation to human factors. In this study, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to record real-time prefrontal activities in 42 male university student habitual video game players when they played a round of multiplayer online battle arena game, League of Legends. A content-based event coding approach was used to analyze regional activations in relation to event type, physiological arousal indexed by heart rate (HR) change, and individual characteristics of the player. Game events Slay and Slain were found to be associated with similar HR and prefrontal responses before the event onset, but differential responses after the event onset. Ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) activation preceding the Slay onset correlated positively with HR change, whereas activations in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and rostral frontal pole area (FPAr) preceding the Slain onset were predicted by self-reported hours of weekly playing (HoWP). Together, these results provide empirical evidence to support the notion that event-related regional prefrontal activations during online video game playing are shaped by game mechanics, in-game dynamics of physiological arousal and individual characteristics the players.

Open design of a reproducible videogame controller for MRI and MEG

Videogames are emerging as a promising experimental paradigm in neuroimaging. Acquiring gameplay in a scanner remains challenging due to the lack of a scanner-compatible videogame controller that provides a similar experience to standard, commercial devices. In this paper, we introduce a videogame controller designed for use in the functional magnetic resonance imaging as well as magnetoencephalography. The controller is made exclusively of 3D-printed and commercially available parts. We evaluated the quality of our controller by comparing it to a non-MRI compatible controller that was kept outside the scanner. The comparison of response latencies showed reliable button press accuracies of adequate precision. Comparison of the subjects' motion during fMRI recordings of various tasks showed that the use of our controller did not increase the amount of motion produced compared to a regular MR compatible button press box. Motion levels during an ecological videogame task were of moderate amplitude. In addition, we found that the controller only had marginal effect on temporal SNR in fMRI, as well as on covariance between sensors in MEG, as expected due to the use of non-magnetic building materials. Finally, the reproducibility of the controller was demonstrated by having team members who were not involved in the design build a reproduction using only the documentation. This new videogame controller opens new avenues for ecological tasks in fMRI, including challenging videogames and more generally tasks with complex responses. The detailed controller documentation and build instructions are released under an Open Source Hardware license to increase accessibility, and reproducibility and enable the neuroimaging research community to improve or modify the controller for future experiments.

Loss and Frontal Striatal Reactivities Characterize Alcohol Use Severity and Rule-Breaking Behavior in Young Adult Drinkers

BACKGROUND

Alcohol misuse is associated with externalizing behaviors, including rule breaking. Studies have implicated altered reward processing in externalizing behaviors and alcohol misuse. Here, we investigated whether reward or punishment reactivity more significantly influenced alcohol use severity and rule-breaking behavior in young adult drinkers.

METHODS

We curated data from the Human Connectome Project and identified 181 binge (132 men) and 288 nonbinge (97 men) drinkers performing a gambling task during brain imaging. Alcohol use severity was quantified by the first principal component of principal-component analysis of all drinking measures. We analyzed the imaging data using published routines and evaluated the results at a corrected threshold. We examined the interrelationship between imaging and clinical metrics with mediation and path analyses.

RESULTS

Compared with nonbingers, bingers showed more severe rule-breaking behavior and responded significantly faster during post-loss than during post-win trials. Compared with nonbingers, bingers demonstrated greater inferior/middle frontal gyrus and cerebellum activations in loss-predominating blocks but no differences in regional responses to win-predominating blocks, relative to an interblock baseline. The right caudate body showed loss reactivity that was positively correlated with the rule-breaking score. No regional responses to wins were significantly correlated with the rule-breaking score. Mediation and path analyses demonstrated significant models with inferior/middle frontal gyrus and caudate reactivity to loss interrelating rule breaking and alcohol use severity.

CONCLUSIONS

Punishment rather than reward reactivity was associated with alcohol use severity and rule breaking in young adults. The findings highlight the roles of negative emotions in psychological models of externalizing behaviors and alcohol misuse.