Proactive and reactive inhibitory control are differently affected by video game addiction: An event-related potential study

Introduction: Video game addiction (VGA) is associated with physical and mental disorders, one of which is problem in executive function, particularly inhibitory control. The present study aimed to investigate reactive and proactive inhibitory controls by event-related potential (ERP). Methods: Thirty video game (action video games)-addicted subjects and 30 matched healthy controls participated in the study, who were tested by the selective stop-signal task. Results: The main results revealed that the VGA group had significantly more problems in preparatory processes and proactive stop trials, showing that VGA has a negative effect on proactive inhibition. Conclusion: Finding the problem in proactive inhibitory control might be helpful in developing new treatments and rehabilitation methods in these fields.