“Game Addiction” and “Hobby Gamers” Show Different Effects on the Brain Despite Similar Long Play Sessions: Research on Over 100 People: Innovative Tech

A Hungarian study compared non-gamers, recreational gamers, and gamers at risk for gaming disorder.

The risk group showed weaker working memory and more impulsive errors on executive-function tests.

High-playtime recreational gamers did not show the same cognitive downsides and, on one task, had better attention control.

The findings suggest that cognitive harm is linked more to disordered gaming than to gaming time alone.