1. Neural correlates of “flow”
Kyongsik
1,
Yun
Saeran
2,
Doh
Elisa
1,
Carrus
Shinsuke
763.01
GGG43
1
Shimojo
1Computation
and Neural Systems, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
2Department of Food Business Management, Miyagi University, Miyagi, Japan, yunks@caltech.edu
Introduction
Flow : “In the zone” mental state (e.g., skilled game
players and professional athletes)
-> Interesting psychological concept
Problem?
- Hard to quantify because of its subjective nature
Solution?
- Devised a method to objectively quantify the
subjective flow experience using auditory
evoked potential (AEP) suppression
Hypothesis
- In the flow state, AEP of the task-irrelevant
beeps would be suppressed
What we did
- Detected the flow state in skilled game players
and investigated the underlying brain dynamics
The higher the experience of flow,
the better the gaming performance
The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)
and the temporal pole (TP) found as
the core brain areas involved in flow
ACC
Functional connectivity increased
during the flow state
0.13
0.22
0.15
0.22 0.15
0.17
Effective connectivity using PDC between regions of
interest, including anterior cingulate cortex (ACC),
temporal pole (TP), and primary motor (M1) cortex.
TP
Conclusions
Methods
- EEG during a first-person-shooting computer
game
- Distinguished the flow state using objective and
subjective criteria:
(1) suppression of the AEP
(2) self-reported, retrospective flow ratings
(every 5min)
- Localized the neural correlates of flow
- Characterized effective connectivity between
those regions from the EEG data
A significant positive correlation was found between
the overall occurrence of the flow experience and
the performance distribution throughout the game
play (Pearson’s correlation, R=0.68, p=0.014)
Substantial attenuation of the AEP
amplitude only during the flow period
Flow
Non-flow
Experimental procedure
M1
(A) Source localization (sLORETA) showing the
contrast of flow state minus non-flow state for the
anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) (x=-6, y=25,
z=21),
(B) temporal pole (TP) (x=-55, y=10, z=-25) and
(C) the flow minus non-flow contrast for beginners
minus experts in the precentral gyrus (M1) (x=15,
y=-20, z=70) (non-parametric permutation test,
red: p<0.05, yellow: p<0.01).
Detected the mental state of “flow” using
1. Objective measure (AEP suppression)
2. Subjective measure (flow ratings)
Found correlations between
1. Flow ratings
2. Behavioral performance
3. Neural activity (TP, ACC, M1)
Further information
http://yunkslab.blogspot.com
http://neuro.caltech.edu
AEP of the task-irrelevant beeps (randomly
presented) measured
- AEP activation: non-flow
- AEP suppression: flow
Time-frequency analyses of auditory evoked activity
during (A) flow and (B) non-flow state. The nonflow trials showed significant evoked potential
activation and the flow trials showed significant
evoked potential suppression (channels Fz and
Pz; nonparametric permutation test, p<0.05). The
vertical line represents the onset of the beep.
Correlation between the behavioral flow ratings and source localized EEG activity.
For the (A) temporal pole (TP), (B) anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and (C) primary motor cortex (M1).