The Playing Brain. The Impact of Video Games on Cognition and Behavior in Pediatric Age at the Time of Lockdown: A Systematic Review.

A growing number of children and adolescents play video games (VGs) for long amounts oftime. The current outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic has significantly reduced outdoor activitiesand direct interpersonal relationships. Therefore, a higher use of VGs can become the response tostress and fear of illness. VGs and their practical, academic, vocational and educational implicationshave become an issue of increasing interest for scholars, parents, teachers, pediatricians and youthpublic policy makers. The current systematic review aims to identify, in recent literature, the mostrelevant problems of the complex issue of playing VGs in children and adolescents in order toprovide suggestions for the correct management of VG practice. The method used searches throughstandardized search operators using keywords related to video games and the link with cognition,cognitive control and behaviors adopted during the pandemic. Ninety-nine studies were reviewedand included, whereas twelve studies were excluded because they were educationally irrelevant.Any debate on the effectiveness of VGs cannot refer to a dichotomous approach, according to whichVGs are rigidly ‘good’ or ‘bad’. VGs should be approached in terms of complexity and differentiatedby multiple dimensions interacting with each other.