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The neurobiology of play

Published: 06 May 2010 Publication History

Abstract

A large volume of neurobiological research has been conducted in recent years, almost all of which has been considered solely from the perspective of biology. However, most of the insights gained through this research are also valuable for the game research field. This paper discusses the implications of existing research in neurobiology to the play of games (including, but not restricted to digital games), and connects neurobiological perspectives with models of play aiming to construct superior player satisfaction models built upon biological foundations. Connections are presented between already recognized patterns of play and recent research on the brain (in particular, the limbic system). By providing a framework for understanding how the brain responds to recurrent patterns inherent to play, we aim to provide a platform for future experimental player-game interaction research (for which possible directions are briefly explored), and a propaedeutic to biologically-grounded player satisfaction models.

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cover image ACM Other conferences
Futureplay '10: Proceedings of the International Academic Conference on the Future of Game Design and Technology
May 2010
282 pages
ISBN:9781450302357
DOI:10.1145/1920778
  • Conference Chairs:
  • Bill Kapralos,
  • Andrew Hogue,
  • Simon Xu
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Published: 06 May 2010

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Author Tags

  1. brain
  2. brain research
  3. neurology
  4. play patterns
  5. player satisfaction modeling

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Futureplay '10
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Futureplay '10: Futureplay '10 @ GDC Canada
May 6 - 7, 2010
British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

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  • (2024)Personalised gamification enhances student participation but produces mixed effects on emotional and cognitive engagements: a systematic reviewInteractive Learning Environments10.1080/10494820.2023.229997732:10(7014-7040)Online publication date: 2-Jan-2024
  • (2024)Player Types in Gamified Learning: Conceptualization, Validation, and ProfilingInternational Journal of Human–Computer Interaction10.1080/10447318.2024.2338664(1-19)Online publication date: 15-Apr-2024
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