Medical researchers comparing the brains of people addicted to online games and those addicted to drugs claim the same parts of the brain are affected in both cases, an insight which will come as little surprise to anyone familiar with MMORPGs.
The Korean research team used PET scans to analyse brain activity, and found the “game addicts” to have elevated activity in the areas such the orbitofrontal cortex and caudate nucleus compared to non-gamers.
Subsequent comparisons between the brains of MMO addicts (illustrated above on the right) and cocaine addicts (on the left) revealed similar patterns of activity.
The researchers express their hopes that these results will lead to a recognition of MMO addiction as a medical condition:
“These research results demonstrate that online gaming addiction requires specialised medical treatment just as narcotics addiction does, and we hope it will be recognised as just such a mental illness.”
Via Internet.com.









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Hi my name is anon and im an RPG addict.
yeah yeah. How often do you play? Number of hours played? So on, so on...
What the fuck is good on mmo?
I love JRPG. Yes, I LOVE turns battle.
But at MMORPG, it have lags.
in Lunia, when I was playng in first stage...
I had same reaction of Jean Pierre Polnareff when I was smashed by the rocks when I thougth I had scaped of them.
Second problem is other players.
Oh fuck, the only thing what they can talk about is only about the game itself!?
And why the fuck I have to worry about the relationship with other gameplayers!?
Im not interested in orkut or facebook!
I want to play RPG!!
It's pretty radical but any game turns shitty when it is mmo.
Well gameing like drugs smoking drink can becoem an addiction, I my self played tbh far too much when i was in school, first year of college I didnt do wonderfuly well because I was playing games not gettin the work done.
That's great.
...I wonder what the brain of shopping addicts looks like then.
I love to know too.
MMOGs are shit. Every single one I've played was trash; especially Korean-made ones and World of Warcraft. More like highly interactive chat rooms for autistics and people with OCD than games.
They aren't. It's the sh**ty people you played with and makes the game...S**t. Sorry to say that, but give it a thought.
I prefer a game what is good independently of who is playng.
I don't want to play "Facebook". I want to play "videogame".
Indeed
just like games have different degrees of being a drug :)
and for many mmorpg's are at the top
stopping an mmorpg and going back to your previous game can then just make u lose all interest in games :)
Not really. Imagine yourself confined into your room for a week by your Mommy, and took away ur consoles, PC, mobile phone and other forms of communications and entertainment. And, you are being left with a deck of cards which you rarely touch. Surely, one day you would play solitaire or build skyscrapers with it.
More out out desperation for something to do than out of genuine interest.
I think it´s just the "addicted" thing what make them look almost the same.
this is BS and mis-leading!!! This article or the Neuro-Scientists need to elaborate more. Anyway, neither do I play MMO nor consume drugs. ;]
Yes now the police can invade your home searching for addictive substances, they'll get the warrant because they have a good suspicion you do own the said item. Imagine sneaking a console across the border in the dead of night.
Game = Drugs lolwut
Those drug addicts might as well play games
They don't come with the second effect of killing you
But may be influenced by the games and kill others
Theoretically right. Unless you are too obsessed to that partically game, let alone the Stress, work, money, family, friends related problems, does contribute a gamer(s) to become one.
Eh, I thought gaming helps one to improve their alertness or something. In my country they said gaming is good for the mind because you can learn to react quickly
Yes, you are right, by limiting yourself to a couple of hours in to gaming...you are fine. Juz like the Doctor's prescriptions to consume one's medication. Example, maximum dosage of X is 4 tablets per day, if consume beyond that amount, say like 8 ~ 10 tabs per day...then, it could lead to certain side-effects(need not elaborate).
What country is that? Can I move there?
In other news, brains look like brains.
Some friends and I get together, network our computers together in one of our houses, and play first-person shooters about four times a year.
We start at 11:00AM on a Saturday, and play for about 12 hours.
I've noticed that there's something wrong with my brain. I can't seem to focus on the game like the other guys do.
Every few hours or so, I have to get up, stretch, take a break, go to the bathroom, get a drink of water, go play with the dog, get something to eat...
/sarcasm/
Computer gaming has obviously destroyed my ability to concentrate!
/end sarcasm/
Obviously, you are NOT a gamer yourself. /end/
http://k21st.wordpress.com/2009/03/29/seeking-pleasure-food-sex-music-university-of-oxford/
as seen on http://jeuxvideo.fluctuat.net/blog/41391-recherche-bullshit-la-similarite-cerebrale-entre-drogue-et-gamer.html
Yeah, Korean are dumb
Wonder what it would show for a Drug Addicted Gamer?
I smoke weed every day because of my medical need for it (legal :) ) but its crazy cause I totally understand how these two things have correlations. I used to play games ALWAYS. now I smoke weed ALWAYS and play games sometime. and djing has taken up a part of my life.
so yeah... peace... =_=
how can they say that as the dots have that distance between them in the planar axis, what about the 3D position ?
What if it is not the addiction but pleasure or something else.
Plus, those 2 brains look way too diferent. It's kind of comparing a monkey and a dog
Damn! How does one cure this illness I suffer from?
I can imagine it now:
"Quickly, flush the games down the toilet; there's a cop at the door!"
This kind of research has been around for quite a while already. I remember telling a story about to my friends like 8-9 years ago.
I know a cure for online game addiction - P&P RPGs!
"In other news, cynical researchers comparing the brains of medical researchers and politicians claim the same parts of the brain are affected in both cases, an insight which will come as little surprise to anyone familiar with thinking."
Korea, oh you....
If you look closely you can see the activity levels are measured on different vertical levels of the brain. This hardly proves anything i'd say, just because it's roughly in the same area wouldn't make it the same pattern.
Wow are you serious...o_O? Playing games will be in actual Medical condition, that's some bullshit. Cocaine damages those parts of the brain. "The Korean research team used PET scans to analyse brain activity, and found the “game addicts” to have elevated activity in the areas such the orbitofrontal cortex and caudate nucleus"
Think about this for a sec - The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is a prefrontal cortex region in the frontal lobes in the brain which is involved in the cognitive processing of decision-making. - The caudate nucleus is an important part of the brain's learning and memory system. So if these parts of the brain are " elevated " then are we actually working out those parts of the brain by playing MMORPG's? Isn't working out our brain a good thing?
yes it is. but i guess what they are trying to say is, too much dose of something is never good.
Erm...doesn't this kind of apply to any addiction?
addiction affects the one part of your brain, food,sex,games,drugs. wow great reserch
my poor brain!!!! xD
I am a game addict, and I'm completing a PhD in Bioengineering, can you find me a drug addict that can say the same?
Actually any kind of addiction(alcohol,drugs,pain meds,games...etc) would show on the same part of the brain which is the addiction center shown in the PET scan above. And that's not a recently discovered fact.
debatable.
Comparing a Drug Addiction to Game Addiction.For some reason I guess I can be a one of the few who admits I am have a Game Addiction.
If you want to say that we kill people,rob,rape and give handjobs just to play World of Warcraft then by all means go ahead lable us as such.
i wonder if the brain of moral fag and nazifemenize have the same pattern? i mean they couldnt stop to demonize game, anime and other stuff, even if they want to
Well, at least online gaming is cheaper than drugs.
YAY! So that means I can take heroin and when I don't have enough money for it, I get little crisis, but everything is just fine??? COOL!!!
*WoW experience*
Gaming is not an illness, whatever is not completely normal, you find it like an illness... OMG! There are gamers and idiots who have no life or brain, so play all day.. and that's it!
I laughed. I study medicine and believe me, that's bullshit.
It's just some propaganda made up so that they could have something in their hands when arguing with game addicts.
Drugs are toxins which physically destroy your brain cells and affect your body, where as gaming can only give you exhaustion.
Agreed with you. As they said, Science and Religion do not mix...neither should be this. First of all, they said by playing games of certain genres do increase your mentality. And now, they are telling as this BS.
I highly doubt that you do. If you did, you wouldn't have time to post on this website.
Either that or you probably study medicine in a 3rd world country. Your education is equivalent to a high school chemistry course. Bravo idiot.
scientifically, marching in a big group can trigger the same responses as cocaine so I wouldnt worry too much about the gamers
So now any enjoyable activity or hobby (let's just ignore drugs) is considered an addiction huh?
I'm betting 8 hour jobs for 6 days a week will never be considered an addiction aslong as it fills your funds, amirite government?
Ever heard of workaholics? There really are people who get addicted to work. It generally doesn't come at as great a personal cost as something less productive like gaming, but it can be a real problem for marriages and families.
Im pretty sure all addictions have that effect on the brain.
Bullsh#t!! I won't believe this.
*Turns on Emil Chronicle*
Wait, since when did I own two laptops..? Ohh.. my character is coming out from the screen.. OMG, candy apples flying around the room..
must be the drugs you took before you turned on your PS2.
This coming from the same country that believes in fan death.
It's Korean? I think they're confused. What they think is "game addicts" is actually "irrational hatred for Japanese", something that is present in all Koreans.
You are definitely right, when these Korean researchers are studying (most of them Korean) MMORPGs compared to cocaine. Anon, do try to have a bit more flair into your comment by at least inserting a bit of sarcasm. These kinds of comments are irritating.
Person 1: "Global warming is real and it's occurring right now!"
Person 2: "It's the environmentalists? I think they're confused. What they think is "global warming" is actually "irrational hatred for global economy", something that is present in all environmentalists.
Person 1: "I heard from a humanist that there should be more gay rights!"
Person 2: "A humanist once told me that gay people should just fuck themselves."
Next study that will also prove the obvious:
Brains of anime addicts found to be exactly the same as heroin fiends. Both groups also show no desire for recovery and actively feed their addictions.
so where did they find drug addicts still on their drug high, and why werent they put in jail?
World of Warcraft shall now be monitered by the FDA
don't trust it, this is (north) korean
who cares mmorpgs suck ass
Not all of them. People's preferences also differ. So you just can't say that, well, mmos suck generally.
WOW being an exception, ofc.
then you can also say
anime sucks
manga sucks
porn sucks
your life sucxks ??
you suck ass
Okay, the "This is an Addict's brain" thing has been around a long time. It replaced "This is a Negro's brain" and comparison to gorilla skulls once that became no longer fashionable. And they can always find scientists, doctors, etc. to say things that can seem to back them up.
I do believe that activity stimulates the brain. I'm just worried that if the "This is an addict" becomes enshrined in definition of diseased/addicted etc. it'll hurt humanity because the "Joe Normal" of modern bland PC consumer culture probably is not suited to any time in history besides barely the 'modern' age and is very prone to addictions and stupid risky behavior in instinctive search of something else. Why else is almost all the MMORPGs about escaping into either futuristic, war torn or mideavalist worlds?
The strangest thing is, they have a 'normal person's brain'. Just where did they find a perfectly normal person? Or is that brain stashed in a jar in Paris' Weights and Measures Hall (or whatever that place with the iridium meter is called)?
For that matter, is being a normal person a good thing, and everyone else should get medical treatment? You know, normal people don't live very long, have lots of stress they need to relieve, and don't get paid that much.
There is no such thing as normal, only average. And to get an average brain, you'd have to mash a bunch of them together, and all that stuff, and its too messy for all these 'scientists.' I notice they didn't mention whether or not they were North or South Korean 'scientists.' It makes a difference.
But Negroids and Gorrillas do have the same minds.
How else can you explain the primitive music, and general uncouth attitude?
"primitive music, and general uncouth attitude"
I just say two things to you, whitey: Techno and Amerikan people.
We whites are not even a little bit better than the negroids, we're the same species. So, just sit back, and play games fascist.
Obama's got your back
Run!
There is a big black man chasing you!
hahahaha
*snort*
go figure someone would stick these two together, in which some people can get addicted....
So that's why I had that weird itchy feeling around my orbitofrontal cortex and caudate nucleus lately!
These studies don't ever mean anything, the same part of the brain is stimulated when you take a shit as when you have oral or anal sex. Does that mean every guy who takes a shit is also possibly gay?
The brain functions on many levels and use the same areas of the brain for MANY things.
> So that's why I had that weird itchy feeling around my orbitofrontal cortex and caudate nucleus lately!
It's an itch you gotta scratch...
It wasn't my dream but it fits like a glove
Nano narcotic bringin peace and love Oh Yeah
Could you help me scratch my electric itch
It makes me look good but it's startin to make me twitch
Won't you Stop Me Stop Me Stop Me
Stop Me Stop Me Stop Me Stop Me
as surprising as it may seem, the brain cannot 'feel', even though it is full of nerve cells. so one cannot have an ichty feeling around his orbitofrontal cortex and caudate nucleus.
oh and i didn't miss the joke.
Then why do people have headaches?
I was sure it's my nerve cells complaining...
This really bother me. What treatments are available. Do they recommend a prescription?
The fact that your brain cannot feel pain doesn't mean that the rest of the head doesn't either.
Wikipedia explains it far better than I could, so I'll save myself the trouble:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headache
You hurt my brains feelings.
Don't mind it.
So now Game addiction has a possibility of being categorized as a mental illness...?
Bravo, Experts.
Yep, everything's considered a mental illness these days.
*depression lv. at C after reading this crap*
Ah... So the more I play, the more I can take days off from school or work?
If they find a form to turm the people addicted to work and study it will be a good thing to humanity.
NO, for gods sake. If they find a form to turn the people addicted to work I quit the world. Just nuke it from the orbit. Thats an horrible, horrible idea.
Sorry, already exists
Roll on the Workaholic
Ahhh... So, the more I play, the more I can take days off from school or work?
Indded.
If you dont know in Sweden they have hospital where they cure this things. I mean game addicts.
Even China have something similar but you know China style.
Then yes this can be classifad as illness.
Remember playing game can hurts you.
As many other things do or can.
Back to playing crappy games like Europa Universalis.
Well, quitting RuneScape is a very good thing, but why would reading such a report scare you away from playing MMORPGs?
Brains of addicts look like brains of addicts.
Well no junk Sherlock.
Maybe it's because some people have a predisposition to being addicted to something and it does not matter what it is??? Take the videa games away and they find something else to be addicted to.
How's 'bout being addicted to EU3? :P I nearly failed to get my master's degree 'casue of that one :P
Well, both are "addictions"...
And both do "stimulate" you in a way...
While giving you that "awesome" feeling...
But at least most of us don't have a controller glued to our hands 27/4 (well, some of us?)
i'm glad i quit RuneScape and other Online Role Playing Games =D
Does that mean we can get drug addicts addicted to games instead of drugs, or vice versa?
So does fapping use the same brain activity too?
They are just desesperate to make more money from it. I was addict to FFXI a lot, and still I managed to let it go (stopped to play) just as well, of course sometimes I wanted to go back, and ended stopping playing since 2007.
How about a study to tell us how many rapists, robbers, kidnappers, and hooligans are mmo players?
@ExtrovertedOtaku
HOLY SHIT! 27/4?? man these gamers are WAAAY more addicted than me...
i have itch in my pants , am i video game addict too ?
No.. That's just you getting your first boner!
It's sarcoidosis.
Herpes.
it's never lupus
Too much fapping, my friend.
No, it's Lupus.
So that's why I had that weird itchy feeling around my orbitofrontal cortex and caudate nucleus lately!
You win the game for that one.