Violent Video Games

[durangokid]

An article in the London Times today, 8 August 2017.

It seems scientist have found that playing violent video games can shrink part of the brain.

A team from the University of Montreal scanned the brains of 17 people who habitually played, GTA, Counter-Strike and Fallout had smaller hippocampi than 16 people who did not.

An expert from the University of Texas said that we have no idea what the functional implications of a larger of smaller hippocampus are.

I've got a suspicion that I had my hippocampus out when I was young, so it won't bother me.[8|]

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: durangokid

An article in the London Times today, 8 August 2017.

It seems scientist have found that playing violent video games can shrink part of the brain.

A team from the University of Montreal scanned the brains of 17 people who habitually played, GTA, Counter-Strike and Fallout had smaller hippocampi than 16 people who did not.

An expert from the University of Texas said that we have no idea what the functional implications of a larger of smaller hippocampus are.

I've got a suspicion that I had my hippocampus out when I was young, so it won't bother me.[8|]

warspite1

Could it be that people who like mindless violence start with a smaller brain in the first place?

[Twotribes]

To small a sample to be worth while. I smell an agenda.

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: Twotribes

I smell an agenda.

Which has existed at least since 1980's. Even back then, video games were claimed to be violent and sh1t. Goes to same category along with claims about rock music corrupting youth and anime being child porn.

[Lobster]

There have been studies by various universities that point to a marked decline of empathy in the general population. Some say as much as 40%. Empathy is a must have in any stable human social system. None of the studies can put their finger on why. I do know that if you subject a group to a certain set of environmental stresses that over time those common place stresses become less traumatic and more accepted as a way of life. Children soldiers are a good example. If you are constantly told a set of lies throughout your life and you are not subjected to a clear difference of opinion those lies will become fact and are difficult to overcome.

My hippo left the campus long ago and has vowed never to return. So what do I know? [:D]

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: durangokid

An article in the London Times today, 8 August 2017.

It seems scientist have found that playing violent video games can shrink part of the brain.

A team from the University of Montreal scanned the brains of 17 people who habitually played, GTA, Counter-Strike and Fallout had smaller hippocampi than 16 people who did not.

An expert from the University of Texas said that we have no idea what the functional implications of a larger of smaller hippocampus are.

I've got a suspicion that I had my hippocampus out when I was young, so it won't bother me.[8|]

warspite1

Could it be that people who like mindless violence start with a smaller brain in the first place?

Our brains evolve by the lives we live and by the experiences we have. For both good and bad.

I am sure that playing the same sort of computer games for a prolonged time has an effect on the brain. How is a different matter.

[Zap]

ORIGINAL: Twotribes

To small a sample to be worth while. I smell an agenda.

+1

[Chickenboy]

Lots of 'interpretation' in terms of what a habitual / constant player of one of those twitch FPS games is like. I can't imagine that playing *any* of those games for 14 hours a day is 'good' for 'normal' brain development in anyone. But my inclinations, suspicions and suppositions do not make causation. However, a little common sense and moderation can't be a bad thing, can it?

[RFalvo69]

The Hippocampus is responsible for the storage of long-term memory. A good example of a damaged hippocampus is the movie "Memento" (even if there is a plot-hole, i.e. he for this very reason couldn't have remembered the events of the attack, it is still a stellar movie).

Alzheimer, for example, hits the hippocampus hard.

Long-time stress, also, affects the hippocampus, but we are talking about PTSD-level stress, here, not about videogames.

For this reason, I don't see the connection between "violent" videogames and an incorrect growth of the hippocampus. I have played my share of them, and, if anything, in MP games you are trained to remember maps, tactics, what the enemy can do... (notice how it is the same with wargames [:)]) if you have problems with long term memory, in every new game you would be a beginner - even after years.

I'm not saying that the article is incorrect: maybe it is true. But I'm curious about what the correlation between such two different thing could be.

ORIGINAL: Lobster

There have been studies by various universities that point to a marked decline of empathy in the general population. Some say as much as 40%. Empathy is a must have in any stable human social system. None of the studies can put their finger on why.

Coming from the lowly countryside, I'll throw my 2 cents: modern life in moderate to big cities is too scattered. I sometimes develop more empathy with regular clients of my restaurant than with people I should know better. In the small village where I grew up everyone was a "relative" of everyone else. One of my fondest memories were the gatherings during the Summer evenings, to chat and exchange experiences, and the... dunno... village-wide feeling that it was Christmas. Lamezia Terme is not a metropolis: about 70,000 people live here. Yet, there never was such "feeling" since I came to live here.

My eldest daughter now lives and studies in Milan. I guess, given her age, that she is looking for a boyfriend, or maybe she already has one (I'll be the last one to know, of course - and anyway parents never understand things like breakups and stuff... [:D]). However, one day she told me how she now has her circle of friends, but other people "come and go, like in a blur; it is so sad". Maybe she inherited part of my character, because this is how I felt when I was in the Navy. However, being enrolled should not be like living in a city. But I heard many times how, in big cities, people often say "Hi!" and nothing more to other people living in their condo.

Add to this the frantic pace of modern life and... when, and with whom, you can develop empathy?

[Trugrit]

“A team from the University of Montreal scanned the brains of 17 people who habitually played, GTA, Counter-Strike and Fallout had smaller hippocampi than 16 people who did not.”

“An expert from the University of Texas said that we have no idea what the functional implications of a larger of smaller hippocampus are.”

Two observations:

1) You can’t tell anything about the entire human race by studying 16 people.

2) Smaller people have a smaller head and brain. That is why there are different hat sizes.
Women’s heads are generally smaller than men’s heads. Do you really want to go there?

A smaller hippocampus might be extremely beneficial or no benefit or detriment at all.

[MrsWargamer]

If you are worried about damage to your capacity to be empathic, I suggest rather than worry about video games which we know are not reality, and worry about anything that delivers news to you.

Because the news will likely damage your ability to give a damn more than the game will.
Not that the news is actually real, but the assumption is that it is supposed to be real.
And thus we likely tend to react to it as if it was.

[rico21]

A buggy game whose price is high is also a violent game

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Trugrit

Women’s heads are generally smaller than men’s heads. Do you really want to go there?

warspite1

Here is a clip that contains the results of a scientific study on womens brains. The results of the study are conclusive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS37SNYjg8w

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Trugrit

Women’s heads are generally smaller than men’s heads. Do you really want to go there?

warspite1

Here is a clip that contains the results of a scientific study on womens brains. The results of the study are conclusive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS37SNYjg8w

[X(]

[JReb]

Food for thought!

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: RFalvo69

But I heard many times how, in big cities, people often say "Hi!" and nothing more to other people living in their condo.

We can make a guess at least some of them write about their lives on Facebook, Twitter, Discord/Skype and the likes. If one wants to about happenings of someone else, look up from there.

[Trugrit]

Warspite1,

I guess you do want to go there.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/pregn ... 82270.html

So, if a pregnant woman plays a violent video game does her brain become the size of a walnut?

Inquiring minds want to know.[:D]

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Trugrit


Warspite1,

I guess you do want to go there.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/pregn ... 82270.html

So, if a pregnant woman plays a violent video game does her brain become the size of a walnut?

Inquiring minds want to know.[:D]

warspite1

Well Mrs W has a brain the size of a walnut already - she's married to me so she can't be the sharpest tool in the box can she? - so lets hope she steers clear of violent video games [X(]

[demyansk]

Then in this article they talked about the map on the screen causing this problem. I am like What?

Fire and Fury

[Greyshaft]

ORIGINAL: Lobster

There have been studies by various universities that point to a marked decline of empathy in the general population.

I don't care