Association between real-time strategy video game learning outcomes and pre-training brain white matter structure: preliminary study

In recent years the association between video games, cognition, and the brain has been actively investigated. However, it is still unclear how individual predispositions, such as brain structure characteristics, play a role in the process of acquiring new skills, such as video games. The aim of this preliminary study was to investigate whether acquisition of cognitive-motor skills from the real-time strategy video game (StarCraft II) is associated with pre-training measures of brain white matter integrity. Our study shows significant correlations between white matter integrity in the selected regions (anterior limb of internal capsule, cingulum/hippocampus) and tracts (inferior longitudinal fasciculus), and StarCraft II performance indicators. The results show that higher white matter integrity in the regions of interest and tracts is associated with better StarCraft II performance. These regions are proven to be involved in specific functions such as psychomotor, set shifting ability, or visually guided decisions and behavior. The presented findings inline with previous results and suggest that structural brain predispositions of individuals are related to the video game skill acquisition. Our study pinpoints the importance of neuroimaging studies that focus on white matter in predicting the outcomes of intervention studies.