Investigating the impact of gaming and spatial cognition on laparoscopic surgical skills

Abstract

Background

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between video gaming experience, spatial cognition, and laparoscopic surgical skills in a cohort of 50 medical students.

Method

Participants were assessed for video gaming experience, spatial cognition, and laparoscopic skills. The number of hours played per week was also recorded. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the relationship between these variables.

Results

Our findings revealed that video gaming experience and spatial cognition exerted a positive influence on laparoscopic skills. Interestingly, students who excessively indulged in video games without concomitant improvements in spatial cognition experienced a negative impact on their laparoscopic skills.

Conclusions

These findings underscore the potential of video gaming as a tool for improving surgical skills, but also highlight the potential downsides of excessive gaming. The positive correlation between gaming and surgical skills suggests that video games could be integrated into surgical education. Future research should focus on identifying specific video games that effectively promote visuospatial skills as well as determining the optimal balance between gaming and traditional surgical training.

Keywords:

• Video games
• laparoscopic surgical skills
• medical students
• spatial cognition
• structural equation modeling

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank Editage (WWW.EDITAGE.COM) for the English language editing.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no financial conflict of interest with regard to the content of this report.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant Number JP 20K10346) and the HAYAO NAKAYAMA Foundation for Science, Technology, and Culture (22-A2- 23).