Effects of video game-based interventions on executive functions and motor skills in children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Gao and colleagues looked at every study that used video games to help kids with neurodevelopmental disorders. They pulled together studies on active games like Wii Sports and sedentary games like puzzle apps. The team asked one question: do these games help executive functions and motor skills? They ran a meta-analysis to get a single answer.

Video games gave small-to-medium boosts in four areas: inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, working memory, and gross motor skills. Both active and sedentary games helped. The gains were real but modest, so games work best as an add-on, not a stand-alone fix.

Miller et al. (2022) saw the same small gains, but they only looked at autism symptoms. Gao widened the lens to all neurodevelopmental disorders and added motor and executive-function outcomes.

Ruggeri et al. (2020) found that plain motor programs help kids with autism move better. Gao shows that game-based movement gives similar benefits, so you can swap a gym circuit for an active game and still see progress.

Gao et al. (2026) found large social gains for kids with ADHD who did closed-skill exercise. Gao’s meta found smaller cognitive and motor gains across mixed diagnoses. The two studies do not clash; they simply show that different movement styles target different skills.

You can hand a controller to the kids on your caseload and know it will nudge both thinking and movement skills. Pick games that match the goal: active games for gross motor, puzzle or strategy games for executive functions. Keep doses short and pair them with your usual teaching so the small gains stack up over time.