Is gaming stress or Relaxation? An HRV-Based Investigation of physiological responses in young adults

• Video gaming activities had no significant effect on HR and vmHRV. • Video gaming does not appear to have notable physiological impacts on the autonomic nervous system. • Watching a nature film significantly reduced HR and increased vmHRV. • Watching nature films exerts a calming effect and enhances parasympathetic activity, potentially offering health benefits through stress reduction and relaxation. This study investigates the impact of video gaming activities versus watching a nature film on heart rate (HR) and vagally-mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) in healthy young men. Employing a randomized within-subject design, 31 male participants (average age: 23 years; BMI: 25.68; gaming experience: 8.69 years; daily gaming time: 1.96 h) were assigned to either start with playing video games for 120 min on two consecutive days, followed by watching a nature film for the same duration in the following week, or the reverse order. HR and vmHRV were measured via ECG before and after each activity. Results showed that Video gaming activities had no significant effect on HR and vmHRV. It is indicated that video gaming does not appear to have notable physiological impacts on the autonomic nervous system. Conversely, watching a nature film significantly reduced HR and increased vmHRV compared to playing video games. These findings suggest that watching nature films exerts a calming effect and enhances parasympathetic activity, potentially offering health benefits through stress reduction and relaxation. This study contributes important insights into the physiological effects of digital media and underscores the need for further research in this area. Playing video games is associated with increased autonomic sympathetic nervous system activity, which may lead to a reduction in vagally-mediated HRV (vmHRV) and Heart Rate (HR). Hence the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the vmHRV and HR in healthy young adults between playing a computer game and watching a nature film. The study was designed as a randomized within subject design with N = 31 male players (age: M = 23,00 ± 3,53 years, BMI: M = 25,68 ± 3,34, time of experience: M = 8,69 ± 4,74 years, and daily gaming time: M = 1,96 ± 1,32 h). Group A started in week 1 with two consecutive days of 120 min gaming and in week 2 with two consecutive days of 120 min watching a film. Group B started in the opposite order. HR and HRV were measured with ECG before and after the intervention. The results demonstrated that playing videogames had no effect on HR ( t (55) = 1.80, p = 0.08) and vmHRV measured by HF-HRV ( t (55) = -1.57, p = 0.12) and RMSSD ( t (55) = -1.48, p = 0.15). In contrast, watching a nature film led to a lower HR ( t (561.6) = -7.29, p = 0<.001) and an increase vmHRV measured by HF-HRV ( t (561.4) = 4.02, p = 0<.001) and RMSSD ( t (561.4) = 4.97, p = 0<.001) compared to playing videogame. These findings indicate that, among this group of male participants, playing video games did not seem to affect the autonomic nervous system in a manner that notably modified heart rate or vagal tone. Conversely, viewing a nature documentary evokes a sense of calmness and increased parasympathetic activity, which may promote overall health.