電腦遊戲玩家的“大腦”異於他人“

Computer gamers' brains 'differ'

15 November 2011 Last updated at 15:00 GMT

Source: By James Gallagher Health reporter, BBC News

Do our brains make us play more often or does play change our brains?

The brains of people who regularly play computer games differ from those of infrequent gamers, research suggests.

我們的大腦，驅使我們經常玩電玩或經常玩電玩改變我們的大腦呢？

研究表示，那些經常玩電腦遊戲的人的大腦和偶發的玩家不同。

A study in teenagers showed the "reward hub", which is involved in addiction, was larger in regular players.

在青少年的研究中顯示，已陷入成癮者的大腦“獎賞中心”，比一般正常未上癮者較大。

A report in Translational Psychiatry said it was unknown if games changed the brain or if brain differences made people more likely to play.

精神病學翻譯期刊說，是遊戲改變了大腦，或是大腦的差異性使人們更容易陷入遊戲還未知。 

Experts said more studies were needed for parents and teenagers to make sense of the findings.

Playing computer games has been linked to a range of effects from addiction to improved reasoning.

專家說，家長和青少年需要更多的研究結果來感知各種感覺。

玩電腦遊戲已被鏈接到一系列推升成癮的影響原因。

An international group of researchers investigated whether playing changed the structure of the brain.

一個國際研究小組的調查顯示電玩改變了大腦的結構。

They ranked 154 14-year-olds by the number of hours played in a week, with the middle teenagers playing about nine hours a week.

Those playing more than nine hours were classed as frequent players. None were classed as addicted.

他們重新排列154名14歲的青少年在一個星期內玩電玩數小時，青少年平均每週打電玩約9小時。

打超過9個小時被列為頻繁的電玩手。但並沒有列為沉迷。

Enlarged

擴大

Brain scans showed a larger ventral striatum, which is the hub of the brain's reward system, in regular gamers.

在普通玩家腦部掃描顯示一個較大的紋狀體，這是大腦的獎賞系統的樞紐。

For teenagers, parents, and clinicians to make sense of this finding, we need research monitoring brain structure over time”

Dr Luke Clark University of Cambridge

對於青少年，家長和醫生認為此發現深具意義，我們需要隨著時間的推移監測研究大腦結構“

劍橋大學盧克·克拉克博士

Dr Simone Kuhn, one of the researchers from Ghent University in Belgium, said the region is "usually activated when people anticipate positive environmental effects or experience pleasure such as winning money, good food, sex".

The region has been implicated in drug addiction.

來自比利時根特大學的研究人員之一，西蒙娜·庫恩，博士說，該地區是“通常會因人們預期正向環境影響或愉悅經驗如贏錢，良好的食物，性快感而啟動”。

該地區已被牽連藥物毒癮。

The authors said it "cannot be determined" whether this was a "consequence" of gaming or if naturally larger regions led to a "vulnerability for preoccupation with gaming".

Dr Luke Clark, from the department of experimental psychology at the University of Cambridge, said the findings were "really provocative because this is a central hub in the brain's motivational system".

作者說：“不能確定這是否是玩遊戲的”後果“或這是很自然的一個較大的地區導致”遊戲搶先佔據弱點“。

在劍橋大學實驗心理學系的盧克·克拉克博士，說結果是“真的很挑釁，是因為這是大腦動機系統的中心樞紐”。

"But the burning question that this study does not resolve is whether the structural difference is a change caused by the frequent game play, or whether individual differences in this system naturally dispose some people to more excessive play," he added.

“他補充說，”但迫在眉睫的問題是，這項研究不能解決的問題是結構性差異是否是通過頻繁的電玩遊戲而引起的變化，或是否在此本系統中個體差異自然處置讓一些人更過度發揮。 

In drug users, Dr Clark said it was probably a combination of the two process - long-term drug use affecting the brain as well as some people being more susceptible.

在吸毒者中，克拉克博士說，它很可能是兩個過程的結合 - 長期藥物影響大腦，就像一些人更易感受。

He told the BBC that: "It certainly seems very plausible that playing video games for half a day a week may well actually structurally change the brain."

他告訴BBC說：“當然一週每天打半天的視頻遊戲可能實際改變大腦結構似乎是非常合理的。” 

But said there was no evidence for this and that: "For teenagers, parents, and clinicians to make sense of this finding, we need research monitoring brain structure over time."

但他說沒有這樣證據顯示以及：“對於青少年，家長和醫生作出這一發現的意義，我們需要隨著時間的推移監測研究大腦結構。”

Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, of the division of neurosciences at Imperial College London, said: "These findings, linking ventral striatum abnormalities to compulsive computer gaming in young people, are highly relevant to clinical practice as they further close the gap between this activity and other addictions, giving us a better understanding of possible long-term treatment interventions."

在倫敦帝國學院神經科學部門的亨麗埃塔鮑登 - 瓊斯博士說：“這些研究結果，將年輕人因紋狀體異常而強迫玩電腦遊戲連結，為他們進一步關閉在這項活動和其他成癮之間的差距是高度相關的臨床實驗，給我們一個可能長期治療干預更好的理解。“

The researchers are now asking adults, who have never used computer games, to start gaming. They are going to see if this has any effect on the brain.

研究人員正在尋求那些從來沒有使用過電腦遊戲的成年者，讓他們開始遊戲。他們要看看，是否對其大腦有任何的影響。

Dr Kuhn said: "This will hopefully inform us whether the bigger ventral striatum in gamers is a phenomenon that makes them like computer games better or whether this structure did grow due to computer gaming."

庫恩醫生說：“我們希望這將告知電玩家大腦紋狀體變大是否是一種使他們更喜歡電腦遊戲的現象或這種結構的增長是由於玩電腦遊戲而引起。”

參考資料:

20120316 Aircafe Break (1)

20120316 Aircafe Break (2)