Violent media desensitises young minds
The more adolescent boys absorb violence in media such as movies, television shows and video games, the less sensitive certain areas of their brains become to these images.
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The more adolescent boys absorb violence in media such as movies, television shows and video games, the less sensitive certain areas of their brains become to these images. And those areas of the brain are the ones involved in controlling aggression.
It's possible that these boys might become more aggressive later in life, but a larger societal desensitisation may be taking place that might be even more troublesome. Previous studies have indicated that violent media can make people more violent, but this is one of the first studies into how that mechanism plays out in the brain.
Researchers studied 22 boys aged 14 to 17 who watched a series of four-second segments of violent videos. The boys rated the degree of violence they saw in each clip in relation to the clip before it. The boys' responses were measured in two ways, the first being skin conductance responses, basically a measure of sweat levels. We know that when people are shown an emotionally provocative picture or video they have exaggerated sweat responses. The participants' brains were also scanned to measure blood flow in different areas, the idea being the more blood flow, the more active that part of the brain. It was found that they became desensitised over time to these mild and moderate aggressive scenes so they, in essence, had much less sweat over time, and brain activity in the orbital frontal cortex, the part of the brain involved in modulating aggression, decreased.
There's an ongoing debate on as to whether or not violent video games are cathartic or inure teenagers to violence. It's generally the understanding with most of us that if children are playing them excessively, they do tend to make a certain children less sensitive to violence. All parents are concerned as to the extent that teenagers play video games and are engaged in watching violent acts. This study reinforces that concern.
The researchers recommend that parents monitor what their children are doing and be aware of what they are watching.
It's possible that these boys might become more aggressive later in life, but a larger societal desensitisation may be taking place that might be even more troublesome. Previous studies have indicated that violent media can make people more violent, but this is one of the first studies into how that mechanism plays out in the brain.
Researchers studied 22 boys aged 14 to 17 who watched a series of four-second segments of violent videos. The boys rated the degree of violence they saw in each clip in relation to the clip before it. The boys' responses were measured in two ways, the first being skin conductance responses, basically a measure of sweat levels. We know that when people are shown an emotionally provocative picture or video they have exaggerated sweat responses. The participants' brains were also scanned to measure blood flow in different areas, the idea being the more blood flow, the more active that part of the brain. It was found that they became desensitised over time to these mild and moderate aggressive scenes so they, in essence, had much less sweat over time, and brain activity in the orbital frontal cortex, the part of the brain involved in modulating aggression, decreased.
There's an ongoing debate on as to whether or not violent video games are cathartic or inure teenagers to violence. It's generally the understanding with most of us that if children are playing them excessively, they do tend to make a certain children less sensitive to violence. All parents are concerned as to the extent that teenagers play video games and are engaged in watching violent acts. This study reinforces that concern.
The researchers recommend that parents monitor what their children are doing and be aware of what they are watching.
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