<p>This study investigated brain executive function characteristics in college e-sports participants compared to casual gamers and non-gamers using a dual-task Stroop paradigm and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Data analysis included mixed-design ANOVA with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Forty-five college students were assigned to three groups (<i>n</i> = 15 per group) based on gaming frequency and competitive experience. Results showed e-sports participants demonstrated significantly faster reaction times for incongruent words compared to non-gamers (<i>p</i> = .003) and casual gamers (<i>p</i> = .006), along with significantly higher activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during incongruent word processing compared to both non-gamers (<i>p</i> = .001) and casual gamers (<i>p</i> = .003). Enhanced activation was also observed in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, with e-sports participants showing higher activation than non-gamers (<i>p</i> = .028). These findings suggest that college e-sports participants exhibit superior executive function and elevated prefrontal brain activation during cognitive tasks, indicating a potential relationship between e-sports participation and enhanced cognitive performance that warrants further investigation for cognitive training applications.</p>