scholarly journals Peripheral-physiological and neural correlates of the flow experience while playing video games: a comprehensive review

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e10520
Author(s):  
Shiva Khoshnoud ◽  
Federico Alvarez Igarzábal ◽  
Marc Wittmann
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Flow Experience ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Flow State ◽  
Comprehensive Review ◽  
The Relationship

The flow state is defined by intense involvement in an activity with high degrees of concentration and focused attention accompanied by a sense of pleasure. Video games are effective tools for inducing flow, and keeping players in this state is considered to be one of the central goals of game design. Many studies have focused on the underlying physiological and neural mechanisms of flow. Results are inconsistent when describing a unified mechanism underlying this mental state. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the physiological and neural correlates of flow and explains the relationship between the reported physiological and neural markers of the flow experience. Despite the heterogeneous results, it seems possible to establish associations between reported markers and the cognitive and experiential aspects of flow, particularly regarding arousal, attention control, reward processing, automaticity, and self-referential processing.

scholarly journals The expressive power of the Possible Worlds Theory in video games: when narratives become interactive and fictional spaces

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 289-302
Author(s):  
Antonio José Planells de la Maza
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Expressive Power ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Fictional World ◽  
Philosophical Concept ◽  
Interactive Nature ◽  
The Relationship

The philosophical concept of possible worlds (Lenzen, 2004; Lewis, 1986) has been used in literary studies and narratology (Dolezel, 1998; Eco, 1979) to define the way in which we conceive different narrative possibilities inside the fictional world. In Game Studies, some authors have used this concept to explore the relationship between game design and game experience (Kücklich, 2003; Maietti, 2004; Ryan, 2006), while Jesper Juul (2005) has studied the fictional world evoked by the connection between rules and fiction. In this paper we propose a new approach to video games as ludofictional worlds - a set of possible worlds which generates a game space based on the relationship between fiction and game rules. In accordance with the concepts of minimal departure (Ryan, 1991) and indexical term (Lewis, 1986), the position of the player character determines his/her actual world and the next possible or necessary world. Lastly, we use this model to analyse the video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and show that the possible worlds perspective provides a useful, flexible and modular framework for describing the internal connections between ludofictional worlds and the interactive nature of playable game spaces.

The relationship between character identification and flow state within video games

2016 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 1030-1038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alistair Raymond Bryce Soutter ◽  
Michael Hitchens
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Flow State ◽  
Character Identification ◽  
The Relationship

The Haunting Aesthetics of Tacoma

2019 ◽  
pp. 155541201989440
Author(s):  
Ashley P. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Visual Analysis ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Video Game Design ◽  
Complex Forms ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

Video games are well suited to exploring questions of philosophical intent through their construction and design. Exploring the layered and complex forms of video game design and aesthetics is a growing area of gaming studies that is pointing toward these larger and important questions, even changing the way gaming studies is being approached by scholars. This article examines the relationship between video games’ design and aesthetics and Derrida’s conceptual framework of hauntology. Using Mannon and Temkin’s definition of glitch aesthetics, I conduct a close visual analysis of Tacoma as a case study in how Derrida’s hauntology is present within video games. Tacoma’s aesthetic choices bring to light how video games play with Western understandings of presence, life, and death.

Corticostriatal signatures of schadenfreude: evidence from Huntington’s disease

2017 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Baez ◽  
Mariana Pino ◽  
Mildred Berrío ◽  
Hernando Santamaría-García ◽  
Lucas Sedeño ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Social Emotion ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Regional Brain Atrophy ◽  
Shed Light

Schadenfreude—pleasure at others’ misfortunes—is a multidetermined social emotion which involves reward processing, mentalising and perspective-taking abilities. Patients with Huntington’s disease (HD) exhibit reductions of this experience, suggesting a role of striatal degeneration in such impairment. However, no study has directly assessed the relationship between regional brain atrophy in HD and reduced schadenfreude. Here, we assessed whether grey matter (GM) atrophy in patients with HD correlates with ratings of schadenfreude. First, we compared the performance of 20 patients with HD and 23 controls on an experimental task designed to trigger schadenfreude and envy (another social emotion acting as a control condition). Second, we compared GM volume between groups. Third, we examined brain regions where atrophy might be associated with specific impairments in the patients. While both groups showed similar ratings of envy, patients with HD reported lower schadenfreude. The latter pattern was related to atrophy in regions of the reward system (ventral striatum) and the mentalising network (precuneus and superior parietal lobule). Our results shed light on the intertwining of reward and socioemotional processes in schadenfreude, while offering novel evidence about their neural correlates.

Flow Experience and Athletes’ Performance with Reference to the Orthogonal Model of Flow

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 438-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nektarios A. Stavrou ◽  
Susan A. Jackson ◽  
Yannis Zervas ◽  
Konstantinos Karteroliotis
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measures ◽  
Objective Measures ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Flow Experience ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Flow State ◽  
State Variables ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
State Scale

The purposes of the current study were to examine (a) the differences in Flow State Scale (FSS) subscales between the 4 experiential states of the orthogonal model (apathy, anxiety, relaxation, and flow), (b) the relationship between challenge, skills, and flow experience; and (c) the relationship between flow experience and athletes’ performance. Two hundred twenty athletes volunteered to participate in this study. Challenge of the game and skills of the athlete were measured before and after competition. Thirty minutes after the competition, the FSS was used to measure flow experience. In addition, subjective and objective measures of athletes’ performance were assessed. Athletes in the flow and relaxation states revealed the most optimal states, whereas the athletes in the apathy state showed the least optimal state. There were positive associations between athletes’ flow experience and their performance measures, indicating that positive emotional states are related to elevated levels of performance. On the other hand, there were low or no correlations between athletes’ performance and reported challenge of the game, whereas skills of the athlete were moderately correlated with flow. Multiple-regression analysis demonstrated significant prediction of athletes’ performance based on flow experience during competition. Future research should examine the relationship between flow, athletes’ performance, and additional dispositional and state variables.

Experience, Cognition and Video Game Play

2009 ◽  
pp. 776-790
Author(s):  
Meredith DiPietro
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Educational Game ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Video Game Play ◽  
Cognition And Learning ◽  
Level Of Experience ◽  
The Relationship

There is current interest from the field of education into the value of video games to support learning. Research investigating outcomes associated with video game play has just begun to scratch the surface of their educational potential. Further exploration needs to focus on the internal processes of the play, specifically the relationship between the utilization of cognitive skills, the learning process, and a player’s experience with playing video games. Drawing support from the field of expertise, the research presented in this chapter looks at this relationship by comparing the processes used by video game players based on their level of experience. Results from this study add to the understanding of the relationship between experience, cognition, and learning from video game play. The results of this research also have implications for educational game design and the pedagogical techniques used to make effective learning opportunities available to all learners.

Hydrocephalus in Spinal Muscular Atrophy: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeetendra P. Sah ◽  
Aaron W. Abrams ◽  
Geetha Chari ◽  
Craig Linden ◽  
Yaacov Anziska
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Muscular Atrophy ◽  
Clinical Characteristics ◽  
Clinical Presentation ◽  
Muscular Atrophy ◽  
Communicating Hydrocephalus ◽  
Type I ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Radiographic Findings ◽  
Comprehensive Review ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractIn this article, we reported a case of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type I noted to have tetraventricular hydrocephalus with Blake's pouch cyst at 8 months of age following intrathecal nusinersen therapy. The association of hydrocephalus with SMA is rarely reported in the literature. Development of hydrocephalus after intrathecal nusinersen therapy is also reported in some cases, but a cause–effect relationship is not yet established. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of a patient with SMA type I and hydrocephalus, to review similar cases reported in the literature, and to explore the relationship between nusinersen therapy and development of hydrocephalus. The clinical presentation and radiographic findings of the patient are described and a comprehensive review of the literature was conducted. The adverse effect of communicating hydrocephalus related to nusinersen therapy is being reported and the authors suggest carefully monitoring for features of hydrocephalus developing during the course of nusinersen therapy.

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