ReviewBehavioral and brain functions : BBF2020
Commercial video games and cognitive functions: video game genres and modulating factors of cognitive enhancement.
Review in Behavioral and brain functions : BBF, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 124 citations in OpenAlex.
- Game-based digital therapeutics for children and adolescents: Their therapeutic effects on mental health problems, the sustainability of the therapeutic effects and the transfer of cognitive functions.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Effectiveness of an exergame-based training program on physical and cognitive function in older adults with cognitive impairment: a randomized controlled trial in rural China.BMC geriatrics · 2025Trial
- A study on Mahjong intervention to improve cognitive impairment in patients with schizophrenia: a pilot, single-blind, randomized, controlled trial.BMC psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Video and App-Based Games for Youth Emotion Regulation: Scoping Review.JMIR mental health · 2026Article
- Video game practice is associated with enhanced value-guided exploitation under probabilistic uncertainty.Psychological research · 2026Article
- Beyond Performance: Cognitive Overload and Related Cognitive, Psychophysiological, and Performance States in Competitive Esports-A Scoping Review.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Tennis training enhances blindfolded navigation in children and adults.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Neural Correlates of Cognitive Gains Induced by Commercially Available Cognitive Training Programs: A Meta-Analysis of Neuroimaging Studies.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Using games to identify adolescents at risk for substance misuse-a proof-of-concept study.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
- Game over? examining associations between video game play and visual and auditory spatial ability.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Gaming disorder in the ICD-11: the state of the game.BMC psychiatry · 2025Review
- Video Games and Gamification for Assessing Mild Cognitive Impairment: Scoping Review.JMIR mental health · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of a Virtual Reality Serious Video Game (The Secret Trail of Moon) for Emotional Regulation in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Randomized Clinical Trial.JMIR serious games · 2025Article
- A Game-Based Mechatronic Device for Digital Rehabilitation of Hand Function After a Stroke: Design, Prototyping, and Feasibility Study.JMIR neurotechnology · 2025Article
- Paper vs. screen: inclination matters during global-local visual processing.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- From controllers to cognition: the importance of selection factors on video game and gameplay mechanic-derived cognitive differences.Behavioral and brain functions : BBF · 2024Article
- Early-life family and school impacts on adolescent conduct problems: A path analysis.Family process · 2024Article
- Video Game Skills across Diverse Genres and Cognitive Functioning in Early Adulthood: Verbal and Visuospatial Short-Term and Working Memory, Hand-Eye Coordination, and Empathy.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Acute Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Combined with High-Load Resistance Exercises on Repetitive Vertical Jump Performance and EEG Characteristics in Healthy Men.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Validation of the Gaming Skills Questionnaire in Adolescence: Effects of Gaming Skills on Cognitive and Affective Functioning.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUnlike the emphasis on negative results of video games such as the impulsive engagement in video games, cognitive training studies in individuals with cognitive deficits showed that characteristics of video game elements were helpful to train cognitive functions. Thus, this study aimed to have a more balanced view toward the video game playing by reviewing genres of commercial video games and the association of video games with cognitive functions and modulating factors. Literatures were searched with search terms (e.g. genres of video games, cognitive training) on database and Google scholar.
resultsvideo games, of which purpose is players' entertainment, were found to be positively associated with cognitive functions (e.g. attention, problem solving skills) despite some discrepancy between studies. However, the enhancement of cognitive functions through video gaming was limited to the task or performance requiring the same cognitive functions. Moreover, as several factors (e.g. age, gender) were identified to modulate cognitive enhancement, the individual difference in the association between video game playing and cognitive function was found.
conclusionCommercial video games are suggested to have the potential for cognitive function enhancement. As understanding the association between video gaming and cognitive function in a more balanced view is essential to evaluate the potential outcomes of commercial video games that more people reported to engage, this review contributes to provide more objective evidence for commercial video gaming.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.