Effects of Children's Video Gaming Experience on Chinese Orthographic Processing and Its Neural Mechanisms

This study investigates the effects of gaming genres on behavioral and neural mechanisms of Chinese orthographic processing. A total of 1462 primary school students completed a gaming and reading experience questionnaire and an orthographic judgment task, with 45 participants undergoing fMRI scans during orthographic and font size judgment tasks. Participants were categorized into three groups: action video gamers, non-action video gamers, and non-video gamers. Behavioral analyses revealed that action video gamers outperformed the other groups in orthographic skills, when age, gender, and video gaming time were statistically controlled. Neural analyses focused on modular interactions among vision, attention, and working memory networks. During the orthographic judgment task, action video gamers exhibited significantly stronger vision-working memory modular interaction compared to the other groups. No significant group differences were observed in vision-attention modular interactions during the orthographic judgment task or in any modular interaction during the font size judgment task, suggesting cognition-specific and task-specific effects. These findings highlight the potential benefits of action video gaming on orthographic processing and its associated neural networks, particularly in integrating vision and working memory. SUMMARY: Action video gamers outperformed others in orthographic processing skills. Action video gaming was associated with better vision-working memory neural interactions. Modular interactions were cognition-specific and task-specific.