Aggressive Video Games Desensitize the Brain

In a new study, a team of German investigators established that the brain activity patterns of teens who play a lot of violent and aggressive video games are very different from similar patterns recorded in gamers who do not play first person shooters.

University of Bonn researchers say that this significant difference may very well be caused by the fact that those who play violent games are desensitized by the images they are constantly seeing. As such, their brains are no longer capable to display the correct reactions.

One of the most interesting findings the team made was that both players and non-players exhibited similar levels of activation in their amygdala, regions of the brain that are involved with processing fear and the innate flight-or-fight response.

However, a marked activation difference was observed in the left medial frontal lobes. These areas of the brain are involved in controlling fear or aggression, PsychCentral reports.