--- title: Gaming Disorders Linked to Cognitive Impairment—but Recreational Gaming May Offer Benefits description: Compared with people who don’t play video games, individuals who engage in recreational gaming showed enhanced attention-related performance in cognitive tests, while those at risk of gaming disorders had reduced working memory. image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/games_consoles_iStock-1160866353.jpg --- 12/5/25 12:18 PM # Gaming Disorders Linked to Cognitive Impairment—but Recreational Gaming May Offer Benefits ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/gaming-disorders-linked-to-cognitive-impairment-but-recreational-gaming-may-offer-benefits) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/gaming-disorders-linked-to-cognitive-impairment-but-recreational-gaming-may-offer-benefits) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/gaming-disorders-linked-to-cognitive-impairment-but-recreational-gaming-may-offer-benefits) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/gaming-disorders-linked-to-cognitive-impairment-but-recreational-gaming-may-offer-benefits) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/gaming-disorders-linked-to-cognitive-impairment-but-recreational-gaming-may-offer-benefits) ![games_consoles_iStock-1160866353](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/games_consoles_iStock-1160866353.jpg?width=220&height=151&name=games_consoles_iStock-1160866353.jpg)Compared with people who don’t play video games, individuals who engage in recreational gaming showed enhanced attention-related performance in cognitive tests, while those at risk of gaming disorders had reduced working memory, according to a [study](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563225003255) published this week in *Computers in Human Behavior.*   **Why It’s Relevant** It’s crucial for clinicians to understand the cognitive differences between recreational gamers and individuals with gaming disorders to help distinguish maladaptive patterns from healthy engagement, according to the researchers.   **By the Numbers** - Researchers classified 114 participants (average age of 35 years, 64% male) into three groups (non-gamers, recreational gamers, and those at risk of gaming disorders) based on their responses to the Ten-Item Internet Gaming Disorder Test. The participants then completed seven computerized cognitive tasks. - Compared with non-gamers, those at risk of gaming disorders performed worse on two tasks (Digit Span and Counting Span) designed to assess working memory capacity. - Individuals in the gaming disorder risk group also had a higher number of incorrect responses compared with the recreational gamer group in the 1-back task, which assesses the ability to adapt to new information—suggesting **more impulsive response tendencies**. - Recreational gamers showed **enhanced response readiness and attentional control** compared with non-gamers, as evidenced by their higher accuracy in the Go/No-Go task, which assesses inhibitory control.  **The Other Side** Though the researchers used a reliable assessment to group the participants, the Ten-Item Internet Gaming Disorder Test is self-reported and doesn’t definitively determine if participants meet the clinical criteria for a gaming disorder.   **What’s Next** These findings suggest that the cognitive benefits of video gaming may be present only in the context of non-problematic use. It’s also possible that problematic gaming may introduce other factors, such as sleep deprivation or stress, that could offset the benefits found in recreational gaming. ** ** **Related Info** “[Experienced Video Gamer Points Out Signs of Gaming Addiction](https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2024.07.7.32)”   **Source** Krisztina Berta et al.: Game On or Gone Too Far? Executive Functioning and Implicit Sequence Learning in Problematic vs. Recreational Gamers. *Computers in Human Behavior* 2025 Dec 3. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2025.108878   (Image: Getty Images/iStock/max-kegfire)     | [***PN***** Looking for AI Editor**](https://landing.psychnews.org/pd-section-editor) *Psychiatric News* is looking for a dedicated and knowledgeable contributor to serve as our “AI + Digital Health” section editor, curating next-generation content in this rapidly evolving field. If interested, send a CV, a letter describing your vision for the section, and detailed proposals for three potential articles to [editor@psych.org](mailto:editor@psych.org) by **January 31, 2026**. | | --- |   [cognitive impairment](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/cognitive-impairment), [working memory](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/working-memory), [cognitive tests](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/cognitive-tests), [video games](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/video-games), [gaming](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/gaming), [gaming disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/gaming-disorder) ## Related Posts [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/gaming_friends_iStock-1828925275.jpg?height=200&name=gaming_friends_iStock-1828925275.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/with-online-gaming-trust-between-players-can-prevent-addiction) ## [With Online Gaming, Trust Between Players Can Prevent Addiction](https://alert.psychnews.org/with-online-gaming-trust-between-players-can-prevent-addiction) 6/5/26 1:14 PM [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/with-online-gaming-trust-between-players-can-prevent-addiction) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/computer_in_dark_iStock-941800436-Jun-24-2025-03-48-24-7708-PM.jpg?height=200&name=computer_in_dark_iStock-941800436-Jun-24-2025-03-48-24-7708-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2020/09/problematic-internet-use-gaming-may.html) ## [Problematic Internet Use, Gaming May Point to Students Experiencing Mental Health Symptoms](https://alert.psychnews.org/2020/09/problematic-internet-use-gaming-may.html) 9/23/20 12:00 AM [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2020/09/problematic-internet-use-gaming-may.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/gamer_iStock_44002958-Jun-24-2025-05-05-22-6187-PM.jpg?height=200&name=gamer_iStock_44002958-Jun-24-2025-05-05-22-6187-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2016/11/study-suggests-few-gamers-meet-proposed.html) ## [Study Suggests Few Gamers Meet Proposed Criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/2016/11/study-suggests-few-gamers-meet-proposed.html) 11/7/16 12:00 AM [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2016/11/study-suggests-few-gamers-meet-proposed.html) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert" }, "dateModified" : "2025-12-05T17:18:48.473Z", "datePublished" : "2025-12-05T17:18:48.000Z", "headline" : "Gaming Disorders Linked to Cognitive Impairment—but Recreational Gaming May Offer Benefits", "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/games_consoles_iStock-1160866353.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/gaming-disorders-linked-to-cognitive-impairment-but-recreational-gaming-may-offer-benefits", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg" } } } ```