Volume 20, Issue 3 (Autumn 2025)
jmed 2025, 20(3): 1311-1323 |
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Mirhossieni H, zamani N, Yazdaninejad H. From Reward to Memory Consolidation: A Narrative Review of Dopaminergic Mechanisms in Educational Gamification. jmed 2025; 20 (3) :1311-1323
URL: http://jmed.ssu.ac.ir/article-1-1602-en.html
URL: http://jmed.ssu.ac.ir/article-1-1602-en.html
Department of Operating Room and Anesthesiology, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran , hyazdaninejhad@gmail.com
Abstract: (27 Views)
Background and Objective: Gamification has emerged as a novel strategy to enhance motivation and effectiveness in medical education. However, the neuroscientific underpinnings that explain its efficacy remain largely unexplored. This narrative review aims to elucidate the dopaminergic mechanisms involved in gamified learning and its link to memory consolidation.
Search Method: For this narrative review, databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, SID, and Magiran were searched for articles published between 2000 and 2025. Keywords such as “dopamine,” “gamification,” “memory consolidation,” and “Reward Prediction Error” were used. Selected articles, after a screening process, were qualitatively synthesized and analyzed.
Results: Findings indicate that the dopaminergic Reward Prediction Error (RPE) signal drives learning. Dopamine release in response to unexpected rewards enhances memory consolidation by activating the hippocampus-VTA loop. Gamification elements engineer these positive RPE signals to leverage the brain’s reward system, thereby reinforcing learning behavior.
Conclusion: It is concluded that gamification is not merely a tool for engagement but rather a cognitive intervention that leverages neural reward mechanisms to directly influence learning and memory. Medical education designers should move beyond superficial approaches and focus on neuroscientific principles—particularly the creation of uncertainty and surprise in reward delivery—to optimize learning processes.
Search Method: For this narrative review, databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, SID, and Magiran were searched for articles published between 2000 and 2025. Keywords such as “dopamine,” “gamification,” “memory consolidation,” and “Reward Prediction Error” were used. Selected articles, after a screening process, were qualitatively synthesized and analyzed.
Results: Findings indicate that the dopaminergic Reward Prediction Error (RPE) signal drives learning. Dopamine release in response to unexpected rewards enhances memory consolidation by activating the hippocampus-VTA loop. Gamification elements engineer these positive RPE signals to leverage the brain’s reward system, thereby reinforcing learning behavior.
Conclusion: It is concluded that gamification is not merely a tool for engagement but rather a cognitive intervention that leverages neural reward mechanisms to directly influence learning and memory. Medical education designers should move beyond superficial approaches and focus on neuroscientific principles—particularly the creation of uncertainty and surprise in reward delivery—to optimize learning processes.
Type of Study: Review |
Subject:
Medical Education
Received: 2025/11/11 | Accepted: 2025/12/13 | Published: 2025/12/21
Received: 2025/11/11 | Accepted: 2025/12/13 | Published: 2025/12/21
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