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[TheOMan]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050622/tc_nm/science_videos_dc_2

LONDON (Reuters) - The brains of players of violent video games react as if the violence were real, a study has suggested.

Klaus Mathiak at the University of Aachen in Germany studied the brain patterns of 13 men aged 18 to 26 who, on average, played video games for two hours a day.

Wired up to a scanner, they were asked to play a game involving navigating through a complicated bunker, killing attackers and rescuing hostages.

Mathiak found that as violence became imminent, the cognitive parts of the brain became active and that during a fight, emotional parts of the brain were shut down.

The pattern was the same as that seen in subjects who have had brain scans during other simulated violent situations.

It suggests that video games are a "training for the brain to react with this pattern," Mathiak says.

The research was presented at a meeting in Canada and reported by New Scientist magazine.

Whether violent videos make people more aggressive though is hard to prove, the magazine noted. Studies have suggested players of violent games are in fact more aggressive but have left open the question of whether the games made them that way.

I hope the politicians don't run with this one. Haven't heard the videogames = evil rant in a bit though, so I'm guessing we're overdue.

Who keeps funding these studies? We get it already. Videogames = BRAIN MELT and VIOLENT TENDENCIES training you to become a LETHAL WEAPON

Sigh.

 

[Jim Bowie]

Moot. I play NHL 2005 and I don't have any inclination to play sports.

 

[Escape Goat]

I wish to do more violence.

 

[WrathOfOtaibah]

Who cares. Honestly. I've played dozens of games that were violent and never once thought to kill. Thats because they were games. Sure, its cool to unload a round into some motherfuckers but the thought never crossed my mind to do it in real life.

Besides, with studies, anyone can make a bullshit study. Remember the study that said that obesity's effects were overblown? Yeah, seeing as how 300,000 people die from obesity and costs the US $100 billion annually, it sure is overblown.

Got off topic but proves my point that studies are usually fueled by reasons other than being objective.

 

[borghe]

Study: Studies fucking suck.

 

[KidGalactus]

The real problem isn't that it makes you want to kill people or hurt them. The big problem is that it desensitizes you to it.

 

[Cauliflower of Love]

Not sure how accurate that is.

In the "simulated" violence scenario, the person would know that it's not real to begin with.

 

[TheOMan]

Who cares. Honestly. I've played dozens of games that were violent and never once thought to kill. Thats because they were games. Sure, its cool to unload a round into some motherfuckers but the thought never crossed my mind to do it in real life.

Besides, with studies, anyone can make a bullshit study. Remember the study that said that obesity's effects were overblown? Yeah, seeing as how 300,000 people die from obesity and costs the US $100 billion annually, it sure is overblown.

Got off topic but proves my point that studies are usually fueled by reasons other than being objective.

Exactly. Sometimes I get the feeling the people commissioned to do these studies are told at the beginning "Oh by the way, the result should be X. *wink, wink* *nudge nudge*"

Mind you, back when Goldeneye on the N64 was all the rage, I had the urge to shoot the cameras I'd see on my way to work on the street and in the secure areas of my workplace. I'd also look urgently for body armor to keep my lifebar healthy, but sadly couldn't find any at the office.

 

[Bowser]

Meh, we learned about something like this in AP Psych this year, during Hypnosis/Mind-Body debate. When someone sees something, say an apple, the brain registers certain waves when wired to a monitor. However, when that person closes his eyes and imagines an apple, the same waves appear on the monitor. As an aside, this has led to a debate (in Psychology) as to whether the universe is "reality" or what we imagine as reality. Yeah, crazy shit.

 

[KidGalactus]

true, but that doesn't mean it couldn't lessen your reaction to actual violence either.


I mean, clearly there's something going on there, accurately deciding what's been affected is going o be the hard part

 

[Nerevar]

Mathiak found that as violence became imminent, the cognitive parts of the brain became active and that during a fight, emotional parts of the brain were shut down.

The pattern was the same as that seen in subjects who have had brain scans during other simulated violent situations.

So playing a video game that simulates violence creates brain patterns similar to other simulated violent situations? :lol Genius!

 

[teh_pwn]

Who cares. Honestly. I've played dozens of games that were violent and never once thought to kill. Thats because they were games. Sure, its cool to unload a round into some motherfuckers but the thought never crossed my mind to do it in real life.

Besides, with studies, anyone can make a bullshit study. Remember the study that said that obesity's effects were overblown? Yeah, seeing as how 300,000 people die from obesity and costs the US $100 billion annually, it sure is overblown.

Got off topic but proves my point that studies are usually fueled by reasons other than being objective.

Absolutely. Studies are usually funded by someone with an agenda. Like all those prescription drug studies.

When's the last time you saw an obese person over 70? You don't because they die. That's my study of the obvious.

 

[Escape Goat]

Can bees think? A new study confirms no, they cannot.

 

[Xenon]

Only on Xbox. Brain hates the jaggies

 

[123rl]

So a study involving a game that simulates a life or death situation made people think...that they were trying to survive in a life or death situation, and their emotions changed to reflect this? So, in other words, games affect our emotions?

Who the fuck pays for such fucking obvious "research"? :lol I could have told them that for no money at all ffs!

 

[whytemyke]

well, i can see the simple facts behind this study. simulated violence does the same as real violence to the brain. all it means is that if you play a videogame, your brain treats it as violence. doesn't mean you'll go kill people. Same with a soldier... just cuz somebody has gone and fought in iraq and been exposed to that violence doesn't mean they're predisposed to causing more of it. It means they can adjust when they see it.

I wish people would just let gamers game. There's nothing wrong with people 18+ gaming however they like, and politicians need to let it be. Though, they ARE trying to censor television now, so I guess that if the networks have to run all programming by the government first, then videogames are ripe for the picking, too.

 

[Teddman]

This is a ridiculous "study." I'm sure the brain sees pornography as real sex too.

Mathiak found that as violence became imminent, the cognitive parts of the brain became active and that during a fight, emotional parts of the brain were shut down.

The pattern was the same as that seen in subjects who have had brain scans during other simulated violent situations.

It suggests that video games are a "training for the brain to react with this pattern," Mathiak says.

And did these researchers include non-violent games in their study as a control scenario? For example, Tetris? I bet the thought patterns have more to do with concentrating on the intense parts of the game that require reaction rather than the violence depicted itself.

Absolutely worthless, headline-grabbing study.

 

[Hitokage]

Eh, it's a worthwhile study if it shows that all forms of simulated violence are equal to the brain no matter the level of realism, but still... the processes involved in watching somebody fall victim to violence and personally delivering this violence with your own two hands are not the same and the latter has major instinctual roadblocks. In other words, it is FAR harder for the average person to physically stab somebody than it is to push a button knowing that people will die as a result of it(and easier still if the victim is far away in a situation you don't have to think about).

 

[123rl]

The report is saying though that people simulated violence is the same as real violence, as that's how the brain reacts to it. That's bullshit...there's a whole world of difference.

I'm sure some people have trouble differentiating between the two but they're in the minority and, tbh, they need serious help if they don't know the difference between real life and a game

 

[LakeEarth]

I usually laugh at horrible killings in videogames, I enjoy Mortal Kombat greatly, but show me a picture of a real person dead/dying and trust me, there's a fucking different response.

 

[DarienA]

Study: My brain has concluded that most studies are full of shit.

 

[WrathOfOtaibah]

I wish people would just let gamers game. There's nothing wrong with people 18+ gaming however they like, and politicians need to let it be

Not when there's votes to be had. Politicians will make an issue out of ANYTHING if it means getting a few more votes.

Mind you, back when Goldeneye on the N64 was all the rage, I had the urge to shoot the cameras I'd see on my way to work on the street and in the secure areas. I'd also look urgently for body armor to keep my lifebar healthy.

I also had to run through it in 1 minute and 20 seconds to get the invincibility code.

 

[Hitokage]

To be fair, the article says that, not the study. The press have a terrible track record of accurately describing studies.

 

[Lucky Forward]

Same with a soldier... just cuz somebody has gone and fought in iraq and been exposed to that violence doesn't mean they're predisposed to causing more of it.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/31/national/main517033.shtml

4 Wives Slain In 6 Weeks At Fort Bragg

FORT BRAGG, N.C., July 26, 2002

In the past six weeks, four wives of soldiers at Fort Bragg have been murdered. Each death is blamed on the husband.

CBS News Correspondent Jim Krasula reports Fort Bragg commanders are concerned since three of the four domestic murder cases involve Special Operations soldiers who had been deployed to Afghanistan. Two of the soldiers killed themselves as well.

 

[DarienA]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/31/national/main517033.shtml

<lame excuse on>

Yeah but that was Afghanistan man.. NOT Iraq....

<lame excuse off>

 

[RiZ III]

Thats probably why I feel so comfartable going out and decapitating people ::roll eyes::

 

[TheOMan]

Not when there's votes to be had. Politicians will make an issue out of ANYTHING if it means getting a few more votes.



I also had to run through it in 1 minute and 20 seconds to get the invincibility code.

Yeah, sorry man - I wasn't clear in my post and it has been edited. I meant in real life. True story.

 

[WrathOfOtaibah]

Yeah, sorry man - I wasn't clear in my post and it has been edited. I meant in real life. True story.

I know that, it was continuing off of your joke but using my life. It was to continue to poke fun at the study.

The press have a terrible track record of accurately describing studies.

Its expected today for the press to make shit up. If they didn't, that would be a change from the norm.

 

[Diablos]

That study is fucking flawed

 

[eLGee]

After a long game of one of the "Ratchet and Clank"-games, I always feel an urge to break lampposts and collect bolts. And buy those awesome weapons! Bwahhahaha!

Sorry, what were we talking about?

 

[karasu]

This is BS, and I think desensitization is BS to. Videogames don't come anywhere near the real thing.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

That study is fucking flawed

Truth. If the brain's motor control and sensory control areas can't react to it like an actual violent situation, how would you be able to play it at all?