Research Data

Dataset for: Shocking advantage! Improving digital game performance using non-invasive brain stimulation.

[Dataset] Friehs, M.A., Dechant, M., Vedress, S., Frings, C., & Mandryk, R. L., (2020). Shocking advantage! Improving digital game performance using non-invasive brain stimulation.

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Friehs, Maximilian Achim

Abstract / Description

Dataset for: Friehs, M. A., Dechant, M., Vedress, S., Frings, C., & Mandryk, R. L. (2021). Shocking advantage! Improving digital game performance using non-invasive brain stimulation. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2020.102582 Note that this dataset is already filtered; i.e. all participants that provided faulty data are already excluded and only the final sample is in the data.
As digital gaming has grown from a leisure activity into a competitive endeavor with college scholarships, celebrity, and large prize pools at stake, players search for ways to enhance their performance, including through coaching, training, and employing tools that yield a performance advantage. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that is presently being explored by esports athletes and competitive gamers. Although shown to modulate cognitive processing in standard laboratory tasks, there is little scientific evidence that tDCS improves performance in digital games, which are visually complex and attentionally demanding environments. We applied tDCS between two sessions of the Stop-Signal Game (SSG; Friehs, Dechant, Vedress, Frings, & Mandryk, 2020). The SSG is a custom-built infinite runner that is based on the Stop-Signal Task (SST; Verbruggen et al., 2019). Consequently, the SSG can be used to evaluate response inhibition as measured by Stop-Signal Reaction Time (SSRT), but in an enjoyable 3D game experience. We used anodal, offline tDCS to stimulate the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC); a 9 cm² anode was always positioned over the rDLPFC while the 35 cm² cathode was placed over the left deltoid. We hypothesized that anodal tDCS would enhance neural processing (as measured by a decrease in SSRT) and improve performance, while sham stimulation (i.e., the control condition with a faked stimulation) should lead to no significant change. In a sample of N = 45 healthy adults a significant session x tDCS-condition interaction emerged in the expected direction. Subsequent analysis confirmed that the statistically significant decrease in SSRT after anodal tDCS to the rDLPFC was not due to a general change in reaction times. These results provide initial evidence that tDCS can influence performance in digital games.

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2021-01-06

Publisher

PsychArchives

Is referenced by

Citation

Friehs, M. A. (2021). Dataset for: Shocking advantage! Improving digital game performance using non-invasive brain stimulation. [Data set]. PsychArchives. https://doi.org/10.23668/PSYCHARCHIVES.4452
  • tDCS_Experiment_filtered_anodal.sav
    SPSS data file - 24.48KB
    MD5: d11af09218685c937a27c84a0714b99c
    Description: Filtered data for the following paper: Friehs, M.A., Dechant, M., Vedress, S., Frings, C., & Mandryk, R. L., (2020). Shocking advantage! Improving digital game performance using non-invasive brain stimulation. International Journal of HCI _ SPSS data
  • tDCS_Experiment_anodal_filtered.csv
    CSV - 25.33KB
    MD5: 904492e8c66d3821d9e72a79d0c1981d
    Description: Filtered data for the following paper: Friehs, M.A., Dechant, M., Vedress, S., Frings, C., & Mandryk, R. L., (2020). Shocking advantage! Improving digital game performance using non-invasive brain stimulation. International Journal of HCI _ csv data
  • Codebook_tDCS SSG.docx
    Microsoft Word XML - 13.82KB
    MD5: 5758926e39bd39d56a556caec293f963
    Description: Codebook and explanation of variables
  • Codebook_tDCS SSG pdf:a.pdf
    Adobe PDF - 43.46KB
    MD5: d3278fd9a0cc44fb01fd18276c579c34
     Download
    Description: Codebook and explanation of variables
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Friehs, Maximilian Achim
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2021-01-06T17:43:58Z
  • Made available on
    2021-01-06T17:43:58Z
  • Date of first publication
    2021-01-06
  • Abstract / Description
    Dataset for: Friehs, M. A., Dechant, M., Vedress, S., Frings, C., & Mandryk, R. L. (2021). Shocking advantage! Improving digital game performance using non-invasive brain stimulation. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2020.102582 Note that this dataset is already filtered; i.e. all participants that provided faulty data are already excluded and only the final sample is in the data.
    en
  • Abstract / Description
    As digital gaming has grown from a leisure activity into a competitive endeavor with college scholarships, celebrity, and large prize pools at stake, players search for ways to enhance their performance, including through coaching, training, and employing tools that yield a performance advantage. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that is presently being explored by esports athletes and competitive gamers. Although shown to modulate cognitive processing in standard laboratory tasks, there is little scientific evidence that tDCS improves performance in digital games, which are visually complex and attentionally demanding environments. We applied tDCS between two sessions of the Stop-Signal Game (SSG; Friehs, Dechant, Vedress, Frings, & Mandryk, 2020). The SSG is a custom-built infinite runner that is based on the Stop-Signal Task (SST; Verbruggen et al., 2019). Consequently, the SSG can be used to evaluate response inhibition as measured by Stop-Signal Reaction Time (SSRT), but in an enjoyable 3D game experience. We used anodal, offline tDCS to stimulate the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC); a 9 cm² anode was always positioned over the rDLPFC while the 35 cm² cathode was placed over the left deltoid. We hypothesized that anodal tDCS would enhance neural processing (as measured by a decrease in SSRT) and improve performance, while sham stimulation (i.e., the control condition with a faked stimulation) should lead to no significant change. In a sample of N = 45 healthy adults a significant session x tDCS-condition interaction emerged in the expected direction. Subsequent analysis confirmed that the statistically significant decrease in SSRT after anodal tDCS to the rDLPFC was not due to a general change in reaction times. These results provide initial evidence that tDCS can influence performance in digital games.
    en
  • Review status
    unknown
    en
  • Citation
    Friehs, M. A. (2021). Dataset for: Shocking advantage! Improving digital game performance using non-invasive brain stimulation. [Data set]. PsychArchives. https://doi.org/10.23668/PSYCHARCHIVES.4452
    en
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/4031
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.4452
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Publisher
    PsychArchives
    en
  • Is referenced by
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2020.102582
  • Is related to
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2020.102582
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    Dataset for: Shocking advantage! Improving digital game performance using non-invasive brain stimulation.
    en
  • Alternative title
    [Dataset] Friehs, M.A., Dechant, M., Vedress, S., Frings, C., & Mandryk, R. L., (2020). Shocking advantage! Improving digital game performance using non-invasive brain stimulation.
    en
  • DRO type
    researchData
    en