An ad hoc committee will plan and conduct a public session in workshop format at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting. Invited presentations and discussions will explore the neuroscience of electronic gaming, with emphasis on relevant scientific, ethical, and societal issues.

Presentations and discussions will be designed to:

• Highlight key structural features of gaming that are derived from neuroscience concepts.
  • Consider the physiological effects of gaming as a result of the game’s structural characteristics (e.g., reward circuitry).
• Discuss the beneficial and negative effects of the use of neuroscience in electronic gaming.
  • Review the utility of gaming in education, training, rehabilitation, and health.
  • Discuss the negative consequences of excessive gaming.
    • Compare effects of excessive gaming to other addictive behaviors (e.g., substance use).
    • Examine traits that may make a gamer at risk to excessive gaming.
• Consider the ethical and societal underpinnings of the use of neuroscience in gaming design for developers and gamers.
  • Explore potential policies that may protect gamers from design features that may increase the likelihood of negative outcomes.

The committee will develop the agenda for the workshop session, select and invite speakers and discussants, and moderate the discussions. An individually authored brief workshop summary based on the presentations and discussions held during the workshop will be prepared by a designated rapporteur in accordance with institutional guidelines.