A new study published in Computers in Human Behavior sheds light on the brain mechanisms that support visual search skills in real-time strategy video games. Researchers found that people with specific patterns of brain activity and white matter structure performed better in the game StarCraft II, especially when it came to resource-related tasks that require scanning a complex visual environment. The results suggest that efficient attentional processing and underlying neural traits can facilitate skill development in fast-paced gaming environments.
StarCraft II is a real-time strategy game that requires players to manage resources, control armies, and make decisions under time pressure. Unlike action games that rely heavily on reflexes, StarCraft II emphasizes strategic planning and rapid information processing. Because the game demands frequent shifts in visual attention and quick identification of important in-game elements, it offers a unique opportunity to study how cognitive functions like visual search operate in dynamic, realistic settings.
“While research on video games is well-established, only in recent years have we begun to systematically explore their potential benefits for cognitive functioning,” said study author Natalia Jakubowska, an assistant professor at SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities. “At the same time, esports has evolved into a serious discipline, where discussions about individual predispositionsโmuch like in traditional sportsโare increasingly common. We became curious whether there might be neurobiological traits that support effective learning or high-level performance in complex games.”
“On a more personal level, video games have always been part of my lifeโI grew up with them, and over time began to look at them through a research lens as well. During my student years, I somehow managed to spend over 1,200 hours playing The Witcher 3. These days I rarely dive into RPGs, but they definitely hold a special (and slightly nostalgic) place in my heart. Being able to combine my scientific interests with a long-standing personal fascination felt like a natural and rewarding direction.”
Jakubowska and her colleagues designed their study to investigate how attention-related brain activity and brain structure predict success in StarCraft II. They were particularly interested in a brain signal called the N2pc, an electrical pattern measured using electroencephalography (EEG) that reflects how attention is allocated in space. In addition to EEG, participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine the integrity of white matter pathways in the brain, which are essential for communication between different brain regions. The team wanted to know whether these neural markers, recorded before any gameplay training, could predict how well participants would perform in the game over time.
The study included 21 non-gamers who received 30 hours of supervised StarCraft II training. Before the training began, all participants completed a visual search task while their brain activity was recorded. This task involved identifying a target shape among distracting shapesโsometimes in an easy โpop-outโ condition, and other times in a harder โinefficientโ search condition. The N2pc component was extracted from EEG data during these tasks. In parallel, participants underwent diffusion MRI scans to assess white matter integrity in key brain regions.
During the 30 hours of StarCraft II training, detailed in-game telemetry was collected. This included behavioral metrics like resource collection rates, unit production, strategic decision timing, and camera movement. The researchers used statistical modeling to condense these numerous metrics into three main gameplay factors: a โProficiency Factorโ related to strategic skill and unit management, a โResource Factorโ reflecting efficiency in acquiring and using in-game resources, and an โEfficiency Factorโ linked to timing and multitasking.
The findings revealed several significant relationships between pre-training brain data and later in-game performance. Participants who showed lower N2pc amplitudes during the inefficient visual search condition performed better on resource-related tasks in StarCraft II. This suggests that those who needed less neural effort to carry out a difficult search task were better equipped to manage resource-gathering strategies in the game. In other words, efficient neural processing of visual information seemed to translate into better gameplay in a visually demanding environment.
In addition, white matter integrity in two specific brain areasโthe right anterior limb of the internal capsule and the left external capsuleโwas positively associated with the same resource-related gameplay factor. These brain regions are known to connect frontal areas involved in decision-making with subcortical structures that support learning and attention. Higher fractional anisotropy, a measure of white matter coherence, in these regions was linked to both lower N2pc amplitudes and better in-game performance. This suggests a broader interaction between stable brain structure and dynamic attentional processes in shaping how players develop expertise in the game.
“We were surprised by how clearly individual differences emerged even at the pre-training stageโand how well they predicted later in-game performance,” Jakubowska told PsyPost. “This suggests that some people may have neurobiological predispositions for developing specific skills in environments that demand rapid visual information processingโand that these traits can be detected even before any formal training takes place.”
“At the same time, we were genuinely thrilled that our integrative approach worked so well. This was our first study combining functional (EEG), structural (MRI), and behavioral (telemetry-based game data) perspectives, and despite its methodological complexity, our model held up. We’re especially excited because very few studies to date have managed to integrate all three levels of analysisโparticularly using real in-game telemetry rather than artificial lab tasks.”
Interestingly, the N2pc amplitude during the easier โpop-outโ condition showed a possible relationship with overall strategic proficiency, though this link was weaker. The researchers suggest that the ability to detect salient visual information rapidly might help players with early-stage strategy planning, but more advanced strategic behavior likely draws on a broader set of cognitive skills beyond visual attention alone.
The study also highlights that these functional and structural brain measures were not related to each other, but independently contributed to performance. This supports the idea that efficient visual search relies on both moment-to-moment attentional control and long-term neural architecture. The anterior limb of the internal capsule, in particular, connects brain areas involved in planning, learning, and attentional control. Its role in visual search and skill acquisition is consistent with past research showing its importance for cognitive speed and strategy execution. The external capsule, though less understood, also links various brain regions involved in perception and memory, which may aid in complex environmental scanning.
“Our study suggests that individuals who are more efficient at processing visual informationโfor example, locating relevant targets quickly amidst distractionsโmay have a natural advantage when it comes to performing well in complex strategy games like StarCraft II,” Jakubowska explained. “Interestingly, these differences are reflected not only in behavior, but also in brain activity and white matter structure.”
“This indicates that success in video gamesโat least those that rely heavily on attention and planningโis not solely a matter of practice or habit. It may also relate to individual cognitive and neurobiological traits. More broadly, our findings support the idea that video games can serve as valuable tools for studying human attention and learning in dynamic, real-world-like environments.”
“At the same time, it’s important to remember that performance in games is rarely driven by a single cognitive skill,” Jakubowska continued. “Much depends on the strategy a player adopts, as well as on the specific nature and demands of the game. In our research, we focused on one specific mechanismโselective visual attentionโbut our findings clearly point to how much remains to be explored. Games like StarCraft II provide a cognitively rich environment that deserves further investigation from multiple angles.”
“And this is just one gameโwe should keep in mind that the diversity of genres and mechanics in the world of video games offers an even broader landscape for future research.”
While the results are promising, the authors note several limitations. The study had a relatively small sample size, which means it may not have had enough statistical power to detect smaller effects or allow detailed subgroup comparisons. Participants were also limited to non-gamers, so it remains to be seen whether the same neural patterns would predict performance in experienced players or professionals.
“We specifically recruited young adults (aged 18โ35) with minimal experience in video games and no prior exposure to RTS, FPS, or TPS titles,” Jakubowska explained. “This made recruitment particularly challenging, but allowed us to control for prior gaming-related cognitive adaptation.”
“It’s also important to emphasize that this is a preliminary studyโwe are not yet measuring the effects of training itself, but rather identifying potential predictors of in-game success. Moreover, we focused on a single cognitive mechanismโselective visual attentionโand examined it within the context of one game with specific demands. This represents a narrow, but promising, slice of a much broader landscape that warrants further investigation.”
“Despite these limitations, our findings clearly show that this kind of integrated approachโcombining functional, structural, and behavioral dataโholds significant promise for advancing our understanding of attention and learning in complex humanโcomputer interaction environments,” Jakubowska said.
As interest grows in the potential of video games for cognitive training, this research lays the groundwork for future investigations. Whether the goal is to enhance attention, design better training programs, or understand how the brain supports learning in dynamic settings, real-time strategy games like StarCraft II may continue to offer a powerful and flexible research tool.
“Our main long-term goal is to expand this line of research by examining other cognitive functions,” Jakubowska said. “In this study, we focused on selective visual attention, but complex video games engage a much broader range of processesโsuch as working memory, cognitive flexibility, and decision-making. We are interested in exploring whether and how these functions are reflected in brain structure, brain activity, and game performance.”
“Another key direction is longitudinal research. We now have data from four time points: before training, and after 10, 30, and 60 hours of gameplay. This gives us a rare opportunity to track how cognitive and neural indicators evolve over time in response to structured, high-intensity training. We’re particularly interested in whether early predispositions remain stable, diminish, or are eventually “caught up” by less initially advantaged participants.”
“Equally important is the training environment itself,” Jakubowska continued. “Many cognitive studies rely on overly simplified or repetitive tasks that only superficially resemble real gaming. We aimed to strike a balance between experimental control and ecological validity. Our participants trained in a structured environment where we controlled for difficulty, scenario complexity, andโat later stagesโenabled multiplayer interactions. This allowed us to construct two types of training conditions: more “lab-like” and more similar to real-world gaming. I strongly believe that even a highly capable individual may fail to develop cognitively in an inadequate environmentโone that is too easy, monotonous, or unengaging. That may help explain why previous findings on the cognitive impact of gaming have been so mixed.”
“In the future, I would also love to conduct a comparative study involving professional players. I’m curious whether the differences we observe are purely quantitativeโdriven by training time and intensityโor whether elite gamers function differently on a qualitative level, both cognitively and neurologically.”
“Finally, Iโd like to express my deepest gratitude to the entire research team,” Jakubowska added. “Collecting data from a single participantโfour behavioral assessments, four EEG sessions, four MRI scans, and 60 hours of in-lab trainingโrequired an enormous amount of coordinated effort. We estimate that each participant accounted for at least 100โ120 hours of work, often involving multiple researchers at the same time. This really highlights the scale and dedication needed for studies of this kind, and I am incredibly grateful to everyone who contributed.”
“This project also reminded us that while integrated studiesโcombining neural, behavioral, and environmental dataโare deeply fascinating and full of scientific promise, they are also extremely difficult to carry out. The reward of meaningful, high-quality data is often delayed by months or even years of hard workโnot to mention the challenges of recruitment, training adherence, and logistical complexity across multiple measurement points.”
“Lastly, Iโd like to share a personal belief: I think games, while not always and not all equally, can be a valuable part of our lives,” Jakubowska concluded. “I donโt believe they are harmful in moderationโquite the opposite. Todayโs games are not only entertainment tools; they are also complex learning environments, spaces for decision-making, social interaction, and even cultural expression. I believe itโs time we approached them with more opennessโincluding from a scientific perspective.”
The study, “Brainwaves on battlegrounds: Preliminary insights into EEG, white matter microstructure, and StarCraft II performance,” was authored by Weronika Nieciecka, Paulina Lewandowska, Stanisลaw Adamczyk, Alicja Anna Binkowska, Aneta Brzezicka, Patryk Szczeciลski, and Natalia Jakubowska.