Title of article: For young adults, more time gaming may mean better executive

functioning

As video games and phone applications become more assessable and popular,
researchers have started to move towards gamification as an intervention for children
with ADHD to improve organization, self-regulation, and time management. Overall, the
goal is to improve executive functioning. Executive functions have been associated with
the function of the frontal lobe. One of the proposed differences of the brain with
someone with ADHD is slower development of the frontal lobe. Therefore, to help
improve the lives of individuals with ADHD, different parts of the frontal lobe should be
targeted. Thus, video games may be helpful in doing so.

Video games have been a hot topic for many years. Some argue that experiencing
violent video games as a young child will make them aggressive as they grow. Others
see video games as tool to teach and learn. One study found that young adults who
have played video games throughout their lives tend to have improved executive
functioning. The researchers assessed for attention performance and decision making
by administering many tasks through assessments on a computer. Another way the
researchers could have assessed for those factors is by viewing the brain using fMRI
during the tasks. The results of the study indicated that individuals who are experienced
gamers are more alert and scored more accurately and were faster at attention tasks.

Therefore, gamification may become a useful intervention with children with ADHD.
Additionally, video games can be a useful tool to help children learn. Video games that
require the same action create connections between brain cells, which create neural
networks between different parts of the brain. As such, the more someone practices,
the stronger those neural networks become. However, everything is okay in
modification. One negative aspect of spending too much time playing video games is
one may become addicted because of the neurotransmitter, dopamine, being
released. That feeling can be addictive and can be harmful.