Measuring the Effects of Moods and Heart Rate Variability when Playing Video Games: Subtitle: Video Games Impact on HRV and Moods

摘要

In this study, we recruited 20 college students who are video games enthusiasts and assigned them to two groups, namely, video game playing (as a testing group), and book-reading (as a control group). We use profile of mood state (POMS) scale and electrocardiography (ECG) patch physiological signal device as tools to measure moods and heart rate variability (HRV) before and after the experiment, and we assessed the effects of playing video games on physical and mental health. We expect that the low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) powers for HRV in testing group to be significantly higher than the value in the control one after the experiment and to have 30 minutes duration in the following sleep stage. We show that playing video games may excite the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems during and after playing. This will disturb sleep and increase the risk of chronic diseases. Based on these findings, we recommend avoiding playing video games for extended periods of time.