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The Life Project

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The Life Project Received: 16 December 2017 | Revised: 25 April 2018 | Accepted: 24 May 2018 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23146 American Journal of Human Biology ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE Social genomics of healthy and disordered internet gaming Jeffrey G. Snodgrass1 | H. J. François Dengah II2 | Michael G. Lacy3 | Robert J. Else4 | Evan R. Polzer1 | Jesusa M. G. Arevalo5 | Steven W. Cole5,6 1 Department of Anthropology, Colorado Abstract State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80523-1787 Objectives: To combine social genomics with cultural approaches to expand under- 2 Department of Sociology, Social Work, standings of the somatic health dynamics of online gaming, including in the and Anthropology, Utah State University, controversial nosological construct of internet gaming disorder (IGD). Logan, Utah, 84322-0230 3 Methods: In blood samples from 56 U.S. gamers, we examined expression of the Department of Sociology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80523- conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA), a leukocyte gene expression 1784 profile activated by chronic stress. We compared positively engaged and problem 4 Department of Anthropology, University gamers, as identified by an ethnographically developed measure, the Positive and of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 35487- Negative Gaming Experiences Scale (PNGE-42), and also by a clinically derived 0210 IGD scale (IGDS-SF9). 5 Division of Hematology-Oncology, Results: CTRA profiles showed a clear relationship with PNGE-42, with a substan- Department of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles School of tial linkage to offline social support, but were not meaningfully associated with Medicine, Los Angeles, California, 90095 disordered play as measured by IGDS-SF9. 6 Department of Psychiatry & Conclusions: Our study advances understanding of the psychobiology of play, dem- Biobehavioral Sciences, University of onstrating via novel transcriptomic methods the association of negatively experienced California, Los Angeles School of internet play with biological measures of chronic threat, uncertainty, and distress. Our Medicine, Los Angeles, California, 90095 findings are consistent with the view that problematic patterns of online gaming are a Correspondence proxy for broader patterns of biopsychosocial stress and distress such as loneliness, Jeffrey Snodgrass, Department of rather than a psychiatric disorder sui generis, which might exist apart from gamers’ Anthropology, Colorado State University, other life problems. By confirming the biological correlates of certain patterns of Fort Collins, CO 80523-1787. internet gaming, culturally-sensitive genomics approaches such as this can inform Email: [email protected] both evolutionary theorizing regarding the nature of play, as well as current psychiat- Funding information ric debates about the appropriateness of modeling distressful gaming on substance U.S. National Science Foundation addiction and problem gambling. (Snodgrass, J. G., & Dengah II, H. F. (2016), Grant/Award Number: NSF Award #1600448; EAGER: A Biocultural Study of the Functional Genomics of Intensive Internet Use) and National Institutes of Health, Grant/ Award Number: P30 AG017265 1 | INTRODUCTION powerfully impacts gamers’ emotional lives and social iden- tities (Nardi, 2010; Snodgrass et al., 2018; Yee, 2014). Internet gaming is an expanding international phenomenon, Gamers’ passion for play brings cognitive, emotional, moti- with popular games counting millions of players, well- vational, and social benefits (Granic, Lobel, & Engels, developed fandoms, and even substantial e-sports leagues 2014). But some gamers go online to escape offline dys- with million dollar payoffs (Taylor, 2012). Such games are phoric moods and problematic relationships, which can alle- not just entertaining hobbies; play in online worlds viate distress, but can also become obsessive and Am JJ HumHum BiolBiol.. 2018;e23146.2018;30:e23146. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ajhbwileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ajhb © 2018VC 2018Wiley WileyPeriodicals, Periodicals,Inc. Inc. | 11of15of 15 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23146 2of152 of 15 | SNODGRASSSNODGRASSETET AL. compulsive, creating problems resembling addiction (Karde- As a significant form of contemporary human play, inter- felt-Winther, 2014b; Snodgrass, Dengah, & Lacy, 2014). net gaming should share the neurobiologicalAmerican Journa circuitryl of Human Bio andlogy Neurobiological and ethological research suggests that evolutionary significance of older general mammalian and play is an evolutionarily conserved basic behavioral module, human forms of play, along with similar maladaptive addic- manifested among mammalian species from mice to chim- tive potential. We thus thought that certain patterns of inter- panzees to humans (Panksepp, 2004). Whatever its form, net play might manifest in somatic stress physiology. play allows for feigned and typically safe pursuit of social Specifically, we anticipated that internet gamers who experi- and other rewards, and has been linked to brain circuitry enced their gameplay as more negative or addictive would involved in the learning and development of key cognitive also show increased expression of a stress-induced gene and emotional skills, including those related to social domi- expression profile known as the “conserved transcriptional nance and cooperation (Panksepp, 2007, 2010; Pellis & Pel- response to adversity” (CTRA) (Cole, 2014). The CTRA lis, 2007). Enjoyable and satisfying, human play activates profile is induced in immune cells (leukocytes) by activation and is partially organized by ancient mammalian reward sys- of fight-or-flight stress responses from the sympathetic nerv- tems such as the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, which coor- ous system (Heidt et al., 2014; Powell et al., 2013), and dinates activity between deep brain structures like the ventral involves up-regulated expression of genes involved in striatum (related to appetitive motivation and the acquisition inflammation and down-regulated expression of genes of habit), the mid-brain ventral tegmental area (connected to involved in interferon/anti-viral responses and antibody pro- emotion and motivation areas such as the amygdala and duction (Cole, 2017; Cole, 2014). This profile appears to nucleus accumbens), and higher planning in the prefrontal constitute an evolutionarily conserved molecular defense pro- cortex (which balances future and present wants) (Burgdorf, gram, as it is observed across a wide range of species from Wood, Kroes, Moskal, & Panksepp, 2007; Cole, Yoo, & fish to primates (Cole, Conti, et al., 2012; Heidt et al., 2014; Knutson, 2012; Cox et al., 1984; Koepp et al., 1998; Siviy & Korytar et al., 2016; Powell et al., 2013; Snyder-Mackler Panksepp, 2011). Play appears to have evolved as a system et al., 2016), and in a range of adverse environmental condi- promoting the pursuit and acquisition of evolutionarily tions ranging from social isolation (Cole et al., 2007; Cole, adaptive behaviors and experiences in the context of social Capitanio, et al., 2015; Cole, Levine, et al., 2015) to depres- groups (Panksepp, 2004; Pellis & Pellis, 2007). This encom- sion and anxiety (Dantzer, O’Connor, Freund, Johnson, & passes motivations to seek and discover social rewards as Kelley, 2008), low social status (Powell et al., 2013; Snyder- ends in themselves, key themes in play in general and nota- Mackler et al., 2016), social loss (Miller et al., 2008, 2014; bly in contemporary online gaming, which, rendered playful, O’Connor, Schultze-Florey, Irwin, Arevalo, & Cole, 2014), are enjoyable and thus more likely to be pursued (Dengah, and trauma (Kohrt et al., 2016). One advantage of examining Snodgrass, Else, & Polzer, 2018; Panksepp, 2010). Play’s CTRA gene expression is that, unlike many other stress- pleasures focus attention on the things that count from partic- related biomarkers, the cellular and molecular processes ipants’ points of view, allowing through simulation social underlying the CTRA are directly involved in the long-term animals to effectively learn the social and other boundaries development of chronic illnesses that represent the major and possibilities of their lives (Bekoff, 1984; Graham & Bur- sources of contemporary mortality (i.e., cardiovascular dis- ghardt, 2010; LaFreniere, 2011). However, linked to brain ease, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases) (Cole, 2014; reward centers, play has the potential to become overly Finch, 2010). absorbing, so that it competes with rather than promotes To further understanding of behavioral problems from a desirable life goals and behaviors (Panksepp, 2010; Pan- simultaneous psychobiological and ethnographically sensi- ksepp, Knutson, & Burgdorf, 2002). In these cases, play fos- tive perspective, we examined CTRA gene expression pro- ters maladaptive forms of learning that result in obsessive, files in a sample of U.S. internet gamers (N 5 56) selected so compulsive, and addictive seeking behavior (Kelley & Ber- that half of them were playing in apparently functional and ridge, 2002; Panksepp et al., 2002). Play then becomes a healthy manners, and half were experiencing gaming-related source of stress rather than pleasure, with the potential to problems. To assess their internet gaming-related experience, chronically activate psychobiological stress response systems we relied principally on a scale we developed and ethno- such as the autonomic nervous system, with stress implicated graphically validated in earlier research, the Positive
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