Brain-Heart Interaction and the Experience of Flow While Playing a Video Game.

Autor:	Khoshnoud S; Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health, Freiburg, Germany.; Department of Neurosurgery and Neurotechnology, Institute for Neuromodulation and Neurotechnology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany., Alvarez Igarzábal F; Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health, Freiburg, Germany., Wittmann M; Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health, Freiburg, Germany.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Frontiers in human neuroscience [Front Hum Neurosci] 2022 Apr 28; Vol. 16, pp. 819834. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Apr 28 (Print Publication: 2022).
DOI:	10.3389/fnhum.2022.819834
Abstrakt:	The flow state - an experience of complete absorption in an activity - is linked with less self-referential processing and increased arousal. We used the heart-evoked potential (HEP), an index representing brain-heart interaction, as well as indices of peripheral physiology to assess the state of flow in individuals playing a video game. 22 gamers and 21 non-gamers played the video game Thumper for 25 min while their brain and cardiorespiratory signals were simultaneously recorded. The more participants were absorbed in the game, the less they thought about time and the faster time passed subjectively. On the cortical level, the fronto-central HEP amplitude was significantly lower while playing the game compared to resting states before and after the game, reflecting less self-referential processing while playing. This HEP effect corresponded with lower activity during gameplay in brain regions contributing to interoceptive processing. The HEP amplitude predicted the level of absorption in the game. While the HEP amplitude was overall lower during the gaming session than during the resting states, within the gaming session the amplitude of HEP was positively associated with absorption. Since higher absorption was related to higher performance in the game, the higher HEP in more absorbed individuals reflects more efficient brain-heart interaction, which is necessary for efficient game play. On the physiological level, a higher level of flow was associated with increased overall sympathetic activity and less inhibited parasympathetic activity toward the end of the game. These results are building blocks for future neurophysiological assessments of flow. Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. (Copyright © 2022 Khoshnoud, Alvarez Igarzábal and Wittmann.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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