title: Correlation between videogame mechanics and executive functions through EEG analysis.
abstract: This paper addresses a different point of view of videogames, specifically serious games for health. This paper contributes to that area with a multidisciplinary perspective focus on neurosciences and computation. The experiment population has been pre-adolescents between the ages of 8 and 12 without any cognitive issues. The experiment consisted in users playing videogames as well as performing traditional psychological assessments; during these tasks the frontal brain activity was evaluated. The main goal was to analyse how the frontal lobe of the brain (executive function) works in terms of prominent cognitive skills during five types of game mechanics widely used in commercial videogames. The analysis was made by collecting brain signals during the two phases of the experiment, where the signals were analysed with an electroencephalogram neuroheadset. The validated hypotheses were whether videogames can develop executive functioning and if it was possible to identify which kind of cognitive skills are developed during each kind of typical videogame mechanic. The results contribute to the design of serious games for health purposes on a conceptual level, particularly in support of the diagnosis and treatment of cognitive-related pathologies.
authors: University of Castilla-La Mancha, Department of Technologies and Information Systems, Paseo de la Universidad 4, Ciudad Real, Spain; University of Castilla-La Mancha, Department of Psychology, Almansa, 14, Albacete, Spain; eSmile, Psychology for Children & Adolescents, Calle Toledo 79, 1°E, Ciudad Real, Spain. Electronic address: Tania.mondejar@esmile.es.
authors: Tania
authors: T
authors: Mondéjar
authors: University of Castilla-La Mancha, Department of Technologies and Information Systems, Paseo de la Universidad 4, Ciudad Real, Spain. Electronic address: ramon.hlucas@uclm.es.
authors: Ramón
authors: R
authors: Hervás
authors: University of Castilla-La Mancha, Department of Technologies and Information Systems, Paseo de la Universidad 4, Ciudad Real, Spain. Electronic address: MEsperanza.Johnson@alu.uclm.es.
authors: Esperanza
authors: E
authors: Johnson
authors: University of Castilla-La Mancha, Department of Technologies and Information Systems, Paseo de la Universidad 4, Ciudad Real, Spain. Electronic address: Carlos.Gutierrez5@alu.uclm.es.
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Gutierrez
authors: University of Castilla-La Mancha, Department of Psychology, Almansa, 14, Albacete, Spain. Electronic address: Jose.Latorre@uclm.es.
authors: José Miguel
authors: JM
authors: Latorre
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D004569:Electroencephalography; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018910:Video Games
keywords: Brain-computer interaction; Cognitive rehabilitation; Computational neurosciences; Electroencephalogram; Executive functions; Health games; Pervasive health; Serious games