How Do Video Games Affect Brain Development in Children?

How Do Video Games Affect Brain Development in Children?
Repost by UtopiaSilver.com (May 18, 2025)  Experts examine the effects of video games on the brain.
At age 17, Anthony Rosner of London, England, was a hero in the World of Warcraft online gaming community. He built empires, led raids, and submerged himself in a fantasy world that seemingly fulfilled his every need. Meanwhile, his real life was virtually nonexistent. He neglected his schoolwork, relationships, health, even his hygiene.
Split image of human head and video game fantasy warrior head
IMAGES COURTESY ANTHONY ROSNER
"I never saw my real friends. I gained weight, became lazy, and spent nearly all of my time slumped over my computer," says Rosner, who played up to 18 hours a day, every day, for nearly two years. Rosner nearly threw away a university degree in pursuit of the game. According to a study by the NPD Group, a global market research firm, his gaming obsession isn't unique. Nine out of 10 children play video games. That's 64 million kids—and some of them hit the keyboard or smartphone before they can even string together a sentence. The problem: many researchers believe that excessive gaming before age 21 or 22 can physically rewire the brain. Researchers in China, for example, performed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies on the brains of 18 college students who spent an average of 10 hours a day online, primarily playing games like World of Warcraft. Compared with a control group who spent less than two hours a day online, gamers had less gray matter (the thinking part of the brain). As far back as the early 1990s, scientists warned that because video games only stimulate brain regions that control vision and movement, other parts of the mind responsible for behavior, emotion, and learning could become underdeveloped. A study published in the scientific journal Nature in 1998 showed that playing video games releases the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine. The amount of dopamine released while playing video games was similar to what is seen after intravenous injection of the stimulant drugs amphetamine or methylphenidate. Yet despite mounting evidence about the cognitive, behavioral, and neurochemical impact of gaming, the concept of game addiction (online or not) is difficult to define. Some researchers say that it is a distinct psychiatric disorder, while others believe it may be part of another psychiatric disorder. The current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-V, states that more research needs to be done before "Internet Gaming Disorder" can be formally included. Still, experts agree gaming has addictive qualities. The human brain is wired to crave instant gratification, fast pace, and unpredictability. All three are satisfied in video games. "Playing video games floods the pleasure center of the brain with dopamine," says David Greenfield, Ph.D., founder of The Center for Internet and Technology Addiction and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. That gives gamers a rush—but only temporarily, he explains. With all that extra dopamine lurking around, the brain gets the message to produce less of this critical neurotransmitter. The end result: players can end up with a diminished supply of dopamine. Take a game like that away from addicted adolescents and they often show behavioral problems, withdrawal symptoms, even aggression, according to Dr. Greenfield.

The Developing Brain on Games

Video games are designed with a reward structure that's completely unpredictable. The tension of knowing you might score (or kill a warlock), but not knowing exactly when, keeps you in the game. "It's exactly the same reward structure as a slot machine," says Dr. Greenfield. The player develops an unshakeable faith, after a while, that "this will be the time I hit it big."

Your Brain on Games: Experimental Evidence

That's a powerful draw for an adolescent's developing brain, which is impressionable. "The prefrontal cortex—the locus of judgment, decision-making, and impulse control—undergoes major reorganization during adolescence," explains Tom A. Hummer, Ph.D., assistant research professor in the department of psychiatry at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. That executive control center is essential for weighing risks and rewards and for putting the brakes on the pursuit of immediate rewards (like gaming) in favor of more adaptive longer-term goals (like next week's chemistry test). Brain scans showing less brain activity after violent video games than those who didn't play
This region of the brain doesn't reach maximum capacity until age 25 or 30, which may explain why young people are more likely to engage in hours of play while ignoring basic needs like food, sleep, and hygiene. Without mature frontal lobes to draw on, adolescents and teens are less able to weigh negative consequences and curb potentially harmful behavior like excessive video gaming, which also impacts frontal lobe development. More Info: How Do Video Games Affect Brain Development in Children and Teens?