The Effects of Regular Physical Activity and Playing Video Games on Reaction Time in Adolescents

Reaction time is of great importance in life. In both sports and video games, movements of participants are conditioned by different visual, acoustic and somatosensory signals. The aim of this research was to determine whether reaction time is influenced by regular physical activity and playing video games in adolescents. The study included 41 female and 26 male students, aged 10-14 years. Questionnaires about habits related to regular physical activity and playing video games were given to the examinees. Afterwards, the reaction time was determined for visual stimuli, via a computer program. The obtained results show that there is a statistically significant difference in the value of the reaction time of children who are regularly engaged in physical activity relative to those who play video games ((0.327 ± 0.081) s vs. (0.403 ± 0.137) s, p = 0.013), while there is no statistically significant difference in reaction time between children who equally participate in physical activity and video games ((0.386 ± 0.134) s) compared to those who regularly practice physical activity (p = 0.156), and those who only play video games (p = 0.610). Physical activity can decrease reaction time in children, but further studies are needed to elucidate the impact of regular physical activity and gaming on the developing adolescent brain.