Increased oscillatory theta activation evoked by violent digital game events.

Full Abstract

The authors examined electroencephalographic (EEG) oscillatory responses to two violent events, the player character wounding and killing an opponent character with a gun, in the digital game James Bond

007:
NightFire. EEG was recorded from 25 (16 male) right-handed healthy young adults. EEG data were segmented into one 1-s baseline epoch before each event and two 1-s epochs after event onset. Power estimates (microV(2)) were derived with the fast Fourier transform (FFT) for each artefact free event. Both of the studied events evoked increased occipital theta (4-6Hz) responses as compared to the pre-event baseline. The wounding event evoked also increased occipital high theta (6-8Hz) response and the killing event evoked low alpha (8-10Hz) asymmetry over the central electrodes, both relative to the pre-event baseline. The results are discussed in light of facial electromyographic and electrodermal activity responses evoked by these same events, and it is suggested that the reported EEG responses may be attributable to affective processes related to these violent game events.

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Author information

Author/s: Salminen, Mikko (M); Ravaja, Niklas (N);

Affiliation: Helsinki School of Economics, Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research, P.O. Box 1210 (Fredrikinkatu 48 A 9th floor), FIN-00101 Helsinki, Finland. mikko.salminen(-atsign-)hse.fi

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Neuroscience letters (Neurosci Lett), published in Ireland. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Apr; vol 435 (issue 1) : pp 69-72

Dates: Created 2008/04/02; Completed 2008/07/28;

PMID: 18325669, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Aggression - physiology
Arousal - physiology
Biological Clocks - physiology
Brain - physiology
Brain Mapping
Electroencephalography
Emotions - physiology
Female
Functional Laterality - physiology

Humans
Imitative Behavior - physiology
Male
Neuropsychological Tests
Occipital Lobe - physiology
Photic Stimulation
Reaction Time - physiology
Theta Rhythm
Video Games - adverse effects
Violence - psychology

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