Children’s brain activations while viewing televised violence revealed by fMRI
Though social and behavioral effects of TV violence have been studied extensively, the brain systems involved in TV violence3 viewing in children are, at present, not known. In this study, 8 children viewed televised violent and nonviolent video sequences while brain activity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Bopth violent and nonviolent viewing activated regions involved in visual motion, visual object and scenes, and auditory listening. However, viewing TV violence selectively recruited a network of right hemisphere regions including precuneus, postierior cingulate, amygdala, infereior parietal and prefontal and premotor cortex. This pattern of brain activations may explain the behavioral effects observed in many studies, especially the finding that children who are frequent viewers of TV violence are more likely to behave aggressively.
Reference Information:
Murray, J.P., Liotti, M., Ingmundson, P.T., Mayberg, H.S., Pu, Y., Zamarripa, F., Liu, Y., Woldorff, M.G., Gao, J-H., & Fox, P.T. (2006). Children’s brain activations while viewing televised violence revealed by fMRI. Media Psychology, * (1), 25-37
This entry was posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008. It is filed under Family Studies and Human Services and is tagged with brain, children, media, neurological, television, violence.