Meditation Questions

A groundbreaking study video games on the brain male brains vs. female brains

The females fully understood the concept of the game and they moved the wall in the right direction. The difference between the male and female territory at the end of the game was summed up by study leader Allan Reiss: “They (the females) appeared motivated to succeed at the game. The males were just a lot more motivated to succeed.”

After thoroughly analyzing the MRI imagery and data of the entire group of players (11 men and 11 women), the researchers learned that the participants’ brains showed activation in the mesocorticolimbic center – a region commonly associated with addiction and reward. The difference between the male and female brains was in the amount of activation in the mesocorticolimbic center. The brains of the 11 male young adults showed much greater activity. And, to top things off, researchers discovered that the amount of activity closely correlated with how much space (territory) they gained during the game. (This correlation didn’t happen to occur in the women participants). Three more key brain structures involved in our reward circuitry: the amygdala, the orbitofrontal cortex, and the nucleus accumbens – were also shown to influence each other in men much more than women. The better connected this circuitry, the better the males performed at the computer game!

What these results suggest

The results of this study indicate that “acquiring territory” in a computer game is more rewarding for men than women. And researchers, especially lead researcher Allan Reiss, is of the least bit surprised. Reiss was quoted saying, “I think it’s fair to say that males tend to be more intrinsically territorial.” He later added the fact that, “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who historically are the conquerors and tyrants of our species; they’re the males.”

Allan also thinks that this study suggests that men have neural circuitry in their brains that make them more liable than women to feel rewarded by playing computer or video games – especially those with territorial objectives. Reiss made the statement, “Based on this, it makes sense that males are more prone to getting hooked on video games than females.” Later, he added the fact that: “Most of the computer games that are really popular with males are territory and aggression-type games.” Researchers believe that the findings in this study may even apply to other types of video games. Though there are some questions that remain unanswered after this study, Reiss and his team are already working on further research in the area of the niche; particularly in younger populations like children.

For more information note: A report of this unique study has recently been published the Journal of Psychiatric Research online.