Chapter 1 This Is Your Brain on Games

砖家告诉你游戏为什么会上瘾。小声说：说游戏是洪水猛兽网络海洛因神马的其实还是有一定道理的。
A game is, at its root, a structured experience with clear goals, rules that force a player to overcome challenges, and instant feedback. Every day life is usually anything but. Because games offer clearly articulated rewards for each point players score and new level they achieve, they trigger the release of dopamine, a hormone in the brain that encourages us to explore and try new things. Since we like the feeling we get when our brains are awash in it, we’ll do whatever it takes to get it, over and over. We also miss it in the event we run low. That’s when our cravings are dashed and we experience disappointment. You find out you didn’t make the swim team, your boss didn’t approve your raise, or your local bakery ran out of your favorite chocolate chip muffin. Video and computer games, as well as slot machines, are particularly good dopamine generators. In fact, video games uncork almost double the levels experienced by humans at rest. They provide “threshold effects,” in which prizes or level changes are dribbled out to keep us hooked. It’s the same system that drives compulsive gamblers and cocaine addicts.

话锋一转，另一个砖家说了，电子游戏其实是可以用来代替传统疗法（包括药物）来医治抑郁症神马的。
Dr. Carmen Russoniello, director of the ECU Psychophysiology Lab and Biofeedback Clinic, who ran the study claims that “the findings support the possibility of using prescribed casual video games for treating depression and anxiety as an adjunct to, or perhaps even a replacement for, standard therapies including medication.”