Video Gaming’s Impact on Attention and Mental Health

[Dr. Alok Kanojia]: So we know that video games release dopamine, but there are a couple of other effects that we see are really problematic. So the first is that they change our attention span. So if you look at sort of what a video game does, a video game doesn’t require you to stay engaged. The whole point is that unlike something like a book where you have to force yourself to pay attention, video game developers are competing to try to keep people as engaged as possible. And so what we tend to see, we’re seeing a rise in the rates of ADHD diagnosis, which is why some of these things, like Akili, have become increasingly important. And so as ADHD is going up, as the rates of diagnosis are going up, as our attention spans shrink, we’re starting to see this kind of as a result of gaming because people don’t have to focus their attention. The second thing that we tend to see a lot of in addition to the dopaminergic stuff is actually emotional circuitry. So if we look at video games, we know that playing a video game, much like many other addictive substances or behaviors, suppress our amygdala and our limbic system. So these are the parts of our brain that experience negative emotions. And so what we kind of see with unhealthy gaming is a cycle of, let’s say I’m being bullied at school, let’s say I’m not doing great in my classes, so how do I manage those negative emotions? I’m going to shut them off through video gaming. And then this creates a vicious cycle because if we really look at the evolutionary purpose of negative emotions, negative emotions are powerful motivators for corrective behavior.