Wednesday

Violent Video Games Affect the Brain

Dear readers,

While we still insist on not arguing whether or not violent tv series affect little kids or not, US scientists have already researched and have proof that violent vide games affect the brain.

Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) has found out that there are lapses in the brains of those who play such games.

Fig.1

They have found serious lack of function in the brains of violent video game players (MR on the right) when compared to those who play games without violent content. During the Emotional Stroop test, the groups where asked to read their names typed in different colours (yellow, red, blue, green) and the time of the delay in response was measured against those in a group that were asked to read out the same content typed in mixed colours (blue, red, brown).

Fig.2

As observed, the part responsible for managing emotions in such people get smaller. The Institute asked 44 random young ones to play NFS Underground (non-violent) and Medal of Honour (violent) and had them on MR scans. The results can be clearly seen in the pictures above.

As I am a bit interested in computers, some parents used to ask me for an advice, and I used to tell them “It’s OK if the child’s playing strategy games, but see a doctor if he plays violent games”. It was an advice half-mixed with joke, but I guess I was right..