Structurally constrained functional connectivity reveals efficient visuomotor decision-making mechanisms in action video gamers

Long-term action video game (AVG) playing has been linked to improved response times (~ 190 ms) without accuracy tradeoffs in time-sensitive visuomotor decisions, but how it reshapes neural circuits that enable this behavioral advantage is unclear. In this study, Cognitive Resource Reallocation (CRR) is introduced as a candidate mechanism for how sustained engagement with AVGs could plausibly drive behaviorally relevant neuroplasticity through neuroplastic refinement. Using the AAL3 structural connectivity atlas, we apply structural constraints to functional connectivity (SC-FC) and directed functional connectivity (SC-dFC) in gamers and non-gamers. Our results provide strong support for the CRR hypothesis and demonstrate that the brain plausibly reallocates cognitive resources over time to optimize task-relevant networks in high-demand environments such as AVGs, enhancing the integration of contextual information and refining motion processing, which may be a key mechanism in explaining more efficient visuomotor decision-making. These findings position action video games as potentially powerful tools for studying experience-driven neuroplasticity, with possible implications for cognitive training, rehabilitation, and optimizing real-world visuomotor decisions.