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Video Games and the Brain
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Author:  Deadly Sin No.8 [ Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:03 am ]
Post subject:  Video Games and the Brain

Yeah, I know this has been hashed out all over the internet and I hate Jack Thompson and arseholes like him just as much as anyone, but I found the following very interesting from a medical/scientific POV. Also note that it is not calling for a ban of any sort. Emphasis added is mine.

Al Sears, MD wrote:
Video Games and Your Child's Brain

Did you play video games when you were a child? They weren't around until I was in college. But nowadays, kids all over the country are spending a lot of time in front of the TV or computer, playing those games. That's a big change. And with the arrival of ever-better technologies, video games are increasingly vivid, realistic - and addicting.

I've wondered for years whether playing these games influences brain development. I think it might make a kid's brain work faster, able to process more visual information. And my nine-year-old son seems to be able to multitask in ways I can't. But I've also wondered if there's a dark side to brain development, induced by the shocking brutality in some of the videos. Now, for the first time, I've found new evidence that violent video games do alter brain functioning.

Researchers at Indiana University in Indianapolis used Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to map out which parts of the brain are stimulated when kids play different types of video games. One group of adolescents played a violent game called "Medal of Honor," while another group played an equally exciting but non-violent game called "Need for Speed." After 30 minutes, doctors collected the MRI data.

The teens playing the non-violent game showed activity in the frontal area of the brain. This is the area associated with concentration, inhibition, and self-control. The teens playing the violent video game showed no activity in the frontal area of the brain. Instead, the game activated their amygdala. This is the "reptilian" brain that's associated with emotional arousal - especially anger.

This study is sobering for a number of reasons. The reptilian, or limbic, brain is the least cerebral and most animal-like part of the brain. It's where your most basic instincts reside. Instincts to do with things like feeding, survival, and procreation.

This works well in times of crisis. If you're starving, your reptilian brain will drive you to find food. If someone is chasing you and you're in danger, this part of your brain will put you into "fight or flight" mode. In other words, to protect yourself, you'll either become violent or you'll run for your life.

But this area of your brain has no capacity for logic, reason, or objective decision-making. It has no way to express tolerance, understanding, or love. Now consider that millions of teenagers are over-stimulating this portion of their brain for hours every day.

Cause for concern? I think so. Because other research has shown that both repetitive actions and repetitive thoughts hardwire your brain, reinforce whatever actions or thoughts you're practicing, and make it more likely you'll repeat them in the future.

What do I mean by "hardwire"? There are connections between your brain cells that are called dendrites. Repeated activities stimulate dendrites and create neural pathways between different parts of your brain. The more you practice a certain activity, the stronger that neural pathway becomes. These structural changes are the physical mechanisms of learning.

And your brain, like the rest of your body, follows the "use it or lose it" rule. Neural pathways that are not being used eventually get "pruned."

The Indiana University study, coupled with what we know about conditioning and learning, is not proof that playing video games leads to violence. But it does give us reasonable cause to suspect that children who spend a lot of time firing up their reptilian brains may be more prone to violence - and may be less likely to have self-control.

An extreme example of this occurred when authorities discovered a teenage girl who had been locked up in her bedroom for her entire life. Her parents never spoke to her, never touched her - never even acknowledged her. They kept her alive by sliding trays of food under her door.

When police arrested the parents and rescued the girl, she was 12 years old. She was unable to communicate with words, as she had never spoken or been spoken to. Psychologists tried to teach her to speak, but she couldn't learn to do it. After running brain scans, they discovered the area of her brain that rules speech had atrophied. Due to lack of use, the neural pathways had collapsed - in this case, irreversibly.

I'm not suggesting that all kids who play violent video games will go nuts and lose their ability to be rational. But the nature of the human brain is clear: Practiced behavior becomes dominant. Functions that are ignored get cut off - sometimes forever.

I've never bought my son a video game. Yet they are so popular among his friends, he is still exposed to them. I suspect your children or grandkids are too. And I think there is reason to keep the violent ones away from them as much as you possibly can.

I have one other practical piece of advice for you if your child or grandchild is having a hard time controlling his or her aggression. You might consider a nutritional supplement.

Studies show that omega-3s have the power to reduce aggression and violence. For instance, British researchers gave violent prisoners a fish oil supplement along with their regular daily meals. In a matter of days, the prison guards started to notice a change among those prisoners. The results showed that the group taking the supplement had a 37 percent decrease in violent offenses and a 26 percent decrease in overall offenses.

Your brain is 60 percent fats, and omega-3 fats are essential for your brain to function properly. Children today suffer from a dramatic omega-3 deficiency. And violent video games just might be making a nutritional deficiency worse.

I give my son a daily teaspoon of cod liver oil as a natural source of omega-3 fats. These days, you can find it without the bad taste of the cod liver oil my grandmother used.

[Note: When you can't spend time in the sun, cod liver oil is also the most effective and reliable source of vitamin D.]

Author:  Edward9991 [ Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:47 pm ]
Post subject: 

Ive been playing video games my whole life and am a rather queit, non-violent indivigual so i doubt that video games really do anything than make people have a good time.

Author:  Kest [ Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:03 am ]
Post subject: 

What the...? Who are you?

Author:  onion [ Thu Mar 15, 2007 5:34 am ]
Post subject: 

Kestenvarn wrote:
What the...? Who are any of you people?


Yes.

Author:  Gazing Rabbit [ Fri Mar 23, 2007 1:07 am ]
Post subject: 

Kestenvarn wrote:
What the...? Who are any of you people?


Exactly.

Author:  Winter [ Tue May 08, 2007 11:23 pm ]
Post subject: 

If the frontal area of the brain controls concentration and those gaming didn't have any then i have to seriously wonder what the fuck they were playing.

Gaming is the only thing that can get me to concentrate. Nothing else requires enough attention to actually get me completely focused. Except, you know, similarly high-impact stuff like martial arts and car racing.

Furthermore, anyone suggesting such a complicated mechanism to get exactly the expected results is likely massaging the data to fit the conclusions. I have no time for that kind of bullshit. Excessive (whatever that is) video gaming may harm your brain in some manner, but i suspect it isn't so simple as "moar violance!!"

Author:  Indigo [ Wed May 09, 2007 3:14 am ]
Post subject: 

I wrote my diss on Escapism and Computer Games, which was fun.

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