Teenagers who spend hours playing video games may have a similar brain structure to gambling addicts, research suggests.
In a study of 14-year-olds, those who played frequently had a larger "reward centre" in their brains than those who played less often.
Brain scans showed those who played for more than nine hours a week produced more of the "feel-good" chemical dopamine.
They produced even more when they were losing, an effect seen in pathological gamblers which is thought to be what prevents them from stopping when they are on a losing streak.
Playing video games was also shown to reduce decision time - a key skill for being good at them - which is also a characteristic of gamblers.
The researchers do not know whether gaming causes the brain to change, or whether people are born with this brain structure which makes them want to spend hours playing.
But they say it is a crucial first step in understanding whether video games could be addictive.
This study, published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, is the first to connect frequent video gaming with differences in both brain structure and activity.
Dr Simon Kuhn of Ghent University in Belgium and colleagues in the UK and Germany analysed brain scans of more than 150 teenagers who were classified as playing video games either moderately or a lot.
Those who played a lot had a larger ventral striatum, the reward area which is activated when we experience pleasure, for example by winning money, eating chocolate or having sex.
Dr Luke Clark, who researches gambling at Cambridge University, said: "The ventral striatum is at the heart of the rewardsystem and that puts video gaming into the context of addictions."
"We know the brain can change in adulthood, but the burning question is whether the video gaming is the cause or the effect, and that still needs to be answered."


据英国《每日邮报》11月15日报道，研究表明，花费数小时玩电动游戏的青少年可能具有和赌博成瘾者相似的大脑结构。
在一项针对14岁青少年的研究中，比起不常玩游戏的孩子，那些玩游戏比较频繁的青少年大脑中有个一个更大的"奖赏中心"。

脑部扫描显示，那些一周玩游戏超过九个小时的青少年大脑中会产生更多的"感觉良好"多巴胺。
游戏输掉时他们的大脑中甚至会产生更多这种物质，同样的效果也常见于病态的赌徒身上，人们认为正是这种物质使得赌徒们在连输的情况下仍然无法停下来。
玩电动游戏还会减少玩家的决策时间--这是擅长游戏所要具备的一项关键技能--同时也是赌徒的特点之一。

研究人员不知道是玩游戏引起了大脑的变化，还是这些人与生俱来的大脑结构使他们想要花费数小时玩游戏。

但是研究人员表示，对于了解电动游戏是否会成瘾，这已经迈出了关键的第一步。

这项研究发表在《转化精神病学》杂志上，也是第一次将频繁地打电动游戏与大脑结构和行为活动之间的差异联系起来。

比利时根特大学的西蒙•库恩博士与他英国和德国的同事一道分析了150多名青少年的脑部扫描结果，这些青少年都被归类为中等或非常喜欢玩电动游戏的人群。

那些非常喜欢玩游戏的青少年大脑中的腹侧纹状体更大，这一结构是人脑中的奖赏区域，每当我们获得快感时，比如赢钱、吃巧克力或是发生性行为，这一区域就会被激活。

剑桥大学专门研究赌博行为的卢克•克拉克博士指出："腹侧纹状体是人体奖励机制的核心所在，它使得电动游戏也列入了成瘾的范围。"

"我们都知道大脑会在成年时发生改变，但目前紧急的问题是要弄清电动游戏究竟是大脑结构改变的原因还是结果，这仍需要给出答案。"

• structure [´strʌktʃə] n.结构，构造；组织 (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• chemical [´kemikəl] a.化学的 n.化学制品 (初中英语单词)
• journal [´dʒə:nəl] n.日记；日报；杂志 (初中英语单词)
• frequent [´fri:kwənt] a.常见的，频繁的 (初中英语单词)
• reward [ri´wɔ:d] n.&v.报答；报酬；奖赏 (初中英语单词)
• system [´sistəm] n.系统，体系，制度 (初中英语单词)
• characteristic [,kæriktə´ristik] a.特有的 n.特性 (高中英语单词)
• belgium [´beldʒəm] n.比利时 (高中英语单词)
• cambridge [´keimbridʒ] n.剑桥 (高中英语单词)
• moderately [´mɔdəritli] ad.适度；适中；普通 (英语四级单词)
• winning [´winiŋ] n.&a.胜利(的) (英语四级单词)