Chapter 1

Introduction

The popularity of video games is widely spread in the whole world. In fact, it is

more popular than television itself. Gaming has raised concerns in both the popular

media and research community regarding its negative health effects including the

potential for addiction.

Recent brain imaging research is showing that they affect the brain’s frontal

cortex — which controls executive functioning, including impulse control — in exactly

the same way that cocaine does (Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, 2016). The objective of this

research is to create awareness towards the people particularly to the Grade XI ICT

students.

Video gaming raises dopamine levels in the brain to about the same degree that

eating a slice of peperoni pizza or dish of ice cream does (without the calories). That is,

it raises dopamine to roughly double its normal resting level, whereas drugs like heroin,

cocaine, or amphetamine raise dopamine by roughly ten times that much (Patrick

Markey and Christopher Ferguson, 2017).

Many video games, particularly massively multiplayer online role-playing

games and social network and mobile games, rely on a "compulsion loop" or "core

loop", a cycle of activities that involve rewarding the player and driving them to continue

through another cycle, retaining them in the game. By constantly rewarding players for

violent actions, automated aggressive knowledge structures and emotional

desensitization to violent stimuli are learned (Carnagey and Anderson 2005).