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Positive Association of Video Game Playing with Left Frontal Cortical Thickness in Adolescents

Overview of attention for article published in PLOS ONE, March 2014
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (98th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (98th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
10 news outlets
blogs
5 blogs
twitter
65 X users
weibo
1 weibo user
facebook
8 Facebook pages
googleplus
2 Google+ users
reddit
3 Redditors
video
4 YouTube creators

Citations

dimensions_citation
75 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
279 Mendeley
citeulike
1 CiteULike
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Title
Positive Association of Video Game Playing with Left Frontal Cortical Thickness in Adolescents
Published in
PLOS ONE, March 2014
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0091506
Pubmed ID
Authors

Simone Kühn, Robert Lorenz, Tobias Banaschewski, Gareth J. Barker, Christian Büchel, Patricia J. Conrod, Herta Flor, Hugh Garavan, Bernd Ittermann, Eva Loth, Karl Mann, Frauke Nees, Eric Artiges, Tomas Paus, Marcella Rietschel, Michael N. Smolka, Andreas Ströhle, Bernadetta Walaszek, Gunter Schumann, Andreas Heinz, Jürgen Gallinat

Abstract

Playing video games is a common recreational activity of adolescents. Recent research associated frequent video game playing with improvements in cognitive functions. Improvements in cognition have been related to grey matter changes in prefrontal cortex. However, a fine-grained analysis of human brain structure in relation to video gaming is lacking. In magnetic resonance imaging scans of 152 14-year old adolescents, FreeSurfer was used to estimate cortical thickness. Cortical thickness across the whole cortical surface was correlated with self-reported duration of video gaming (hours per week). A robust positive association between cortical thickness and video gaming duration was observed in left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and left frontal eye fields (FEFs). No regions showed cortical thinning in association with video gaming frequency. DLPFC is the core correlate of executive control and strategic planning which in turn are essential cognitive domains for successful video gaming. The FEFs are a key region involved in visuo-motor integration important for programming and execution of eye movements and allocation of visuo-spatial attention, processes engaged extensively in video games. The results may represent the biological basis of previously reported cognitive improvements due to video game play. Whether or not these results represent a-priori characteristics or consequences of video gaming should be studied in future longitudinal investigations.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 65 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 279 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Germany 2 <1%
Spain 2 <1%
Poland 2 <1%
United States 2 <1%
Norway 1 <1%
Sweden 1 <1%
Belgium 1 <1%
France 1 <1%
Netherlands 1 <1%
Other 1 <1%
Unknown 265 95%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 56 20%
Student > Bachelor 43 15%
Student > Ph. D. Student 36 13%
Researcher 35 13%
Student > Doctoral Student 17 6%
Other 44 16%
Unknown 48 17%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Psychology 79 28%
Neuroscience 28 10%
Medicine and Dentistry 24 9%
Social Sciences 16 6%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 13 5%
Other 56 20%
Unknown 63 23%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 175. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 02 April 2022.
All research outputs
#234,758
of 25,837,817 outputs
Outputs from PLOS ONE
#3,418
of 224,660 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#1,849
of 237,923 outputs
Outputs of similar age from PLOS ONE
#93
of 5,687 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,837,817 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 98th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 224,660 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 15.8. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 237,923 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 5,687 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.