Author(s): SUN, B., ZHANG, B., WU, H., HUANG, K., ZHENG, C., ZHANG, Y., XIANG, M., Institution: THE EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG, Country: CHINA, Abstract-ID: 1043

Background: Exergames are interactive video games that combine physical exercise with gameplay. They can be categorized into three distinct types based on the nature of player interactions and the presence of competition: cooperative, competitive, and solitary exergames. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of these three types of exergames on three subdomains of executive functions, i.e., inhibition control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility.

Methods: The study employed a repeated-measures design, in which all participants received three exergame interventions, with a washout period of at least three days between sessions. The Mario Tennis exergames, featuring three different modes, were selected and played using Nintendo Switch®. To assess executive functions, the N-back, Stroop, and Switching tests were administered via E-Prime (version 3.0). The reaction time (RT) and accuracy rate (AR) were recorded before and after each type of exergame. Statistical analyses were conducted using linear mixed-effects models, with game type and time interactions as fixed effects. Simple effects were examined using estimated marginal means with Satterthwaite’s approximation for degrees of freedom.

Results: For the N-back test, RT was significantly improved after solitary (95.27 ms; 95% CI [72.80, 117.74]; p < 0.001), cooperative (38.23 ms, 95% CI [15.58, 60.88], p < 0.01), and competitive (27.08 ms; 95% CI [4.00, 50.17]; p < 0.05) exergames compared to the pretest. Regarding AR, a significant change was observed only after solitary game (0.0135; 95% CI [0.0258, 0.0012]; p < 0.05). For the Stroop test, significant reductions in RT were observed following solitary (71.12 ms; 95% CI [46.30, 95.94]; p <0.001), cooperative (40.07 ms; 95% CI [15.33, 64.81]; p < 0.01), and competitive (40.22 ms; 95% CI [14.28, 66.16]; p < 0.01) exergames. However, there were no changes in AR for any of the exergames. For Switching test, only the AR after solitary exergame showed a significant change (0.0180, 95% CI [-0.0333, -0.0026], p <0.05).

Conclusion: All exergames improved executive functions, particularly in processing speed. However, solitary exergame appears to produce better performance in executive functions compared to cooperative or competitive exergames. This suggests that single-player exergame may have a unique and positive impact on executive functions.

This study was substantially supported by Internal Research Fund of University Research Facility of Human Behavioral Neuroscience, The Education University of Hong Kong (Grant code: CB387).