2017/04/22 by Emma Stanmore, Brendon Stubbs, Davy Vancampfort +2 · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Psychology · Medicine · #Technology Use by Older Adults #Children's Physical and Motor Development #Cognitive Abilities and Testing #Neurocognitive #Psychology #Cognition #Meta-analysis #Randomized controlled trial #Video game #Psychological intervention #Cognitive skill #Clinical psychology #Physical medicine and rehabilitation #Medicine #Psychiatry #Multimedia
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.04.011
openalex publication_date 2017/04/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/02
Physically-active video games ('exergames') have recently gained popularity for leisure and entertainment purposes. Using exergames to combine physical activity and cognitively-demanding tasks may offer a novel strategy to improve cognitive functioning. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to establish effects of exergames on overall cognition and specific cognitive domains in clinical and non-clinical populations. We identified 17 eligible RCTs with cognitive outcome data for 926 participants. Random-effects meta-analyses found exergames significantly improved global cognition (g=0.436, 95% CI=0.18-0.69, p=0.001). Significant effects still existed when excluding waitlist-only controlled studies, and when comparing to physical activity interventions. Furthermore, benefits of exergames where observed for both healthy older adults and clinical populations with conditions associated with neurocognitive impairments (all p<0.05). Domain-specific analyses found exergames improved executive functions, attentional processing and visuospatial skills. The findings present the first meta-analytic evidence for effects of exergames on cognition. Future research must establish which patient/treatment factors influence efficacy of exergames, and explore neurobiological mechanisms of action.