Submission + - Violent Media Suppresses Aggression Inhibitors (columbia.edu)
Invisible Pink Unicorn writes: "We all knew the link probably existed, but feared the inevitable legislative result of finding conclusive evidence that exposure to violent media makes a person more likely to act aggressively. Now, researchers at Columbia University's Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Research Center have shown that a brain network responsible for suppressing behaviors like inappropriate or unwarranted aggression (including the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex, and the amygdala) became less active after study subjects watched several short clips from popular movies depicting acts of violence. These changes could render people less able to control their own aggressive behavior. The authors found that less activation in this network was characteristic of people reporting an above average tendency to behave aggressively, as measured through a personality test. None of these changes in brain activity occurred when subjects watched non-violent but equally engaging movies depicting scenes of horror or physical activity."
