Evaluation of dopamine levels as a result of rewarded and unrewarded participation in leisure activities

Within the scope of this thesis study, it was aimed to examine the power of playing active video games (AVG) as a leisure time activity and the reward given to the experimental groups afterwards to affect the dopamine levels in the blood with the participants who were studying at Eskişehir Technical University Faculty of Sports Sciences and divided into control and experimental groups. Participants were randomly divided into 3 groups by blinding method and 24 volunteers completed the study with an equal distribution of 8 people each. Blood samples were taken from the participants before AVG and then AVG program was applied. Blood samples were taken after AVG without any reward to the control group and the change in dopamine levels was examined. The experimental groups were given a reward after AVO, and it was aimed to examine the effect of the reward on dopamine level. While the 1st reward group was given a utilitarian reward, the 2nd reward group was given a hedonic reward that included leisure activity participation. After the analysis, there was an increase in the post-test scores of the control group participants compared to the pre-test scores and a significant difference emerged. In the 1st reward group, there was no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test mean scores. Finally, there was no statistically significant difference between the pre-test and post-test mean scores in the 2nd reward group. As a result of the study, it was concluded that AVG as a leisure time activity is an activity that increases dopamine levels in individuals without the need for any reward, but dopamine levels do not increase when reward is given.