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Video Games Found To Decrease Brain Activity
Richard C writes "A Japanese researcher, Akio Mori, from the Nihon University's College of Humanities and Sciences, claims to have found a link between the playing of video games and the balance of activity in the brain. It is also claimed that this effect can cause behavioural changes, such as lack of concentration, difficulty with social association, and short temper. These effects are also thought to be, to some extent, nonreversible." I was gonna say something witty and insightful here, but
I can't think of anything. At least I can't make a windows machine stable
enough to run Neverwinter or my brain would be toast.
Huh?
This doesn't bode well for professional game testers. They oughta get some kind of hazard pay for their weakening intellect.
"In a 32-bit world, you're a 2-bit user. You've got your own newsgroup, alt.total.loser." -Weird Al
i have spent more hours of my life playing doom and then civilization then i care to think about but... umm... what was i writing about?
why do i even talk to you people anyway! what's the point! stop bothering me dammit! GO AWAY!
umm... err...
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Well hell I could have told you that. I play them to veg out, not deal with people, and enjoy loosing my temper at something I can take it out on. I also find that I become "SuperNeck" while I play, and the Uberness follows me into the hours after I stop playing. I was wondering why when I was running around with my grill lighter, with the flame at max screaming "MAHALITO!" people looked at me funny.
Neck_of_the_Woods
#/usr/local/surf/glassy/overhead
20 console systems and 100 games... for 'research': $9000
3 years salary for 10 scientists: $1,800,000
Miscellaneou research costs: $400,000
Discovering that sitting in a lab all day playing video games just might result in social issues?
Priceless.
There are some things money can't buy... For everything else; there's research grants.
You must be kidding. In fact, you just reminded me of a hilarious comic strip from the far side. I thought I'd share it with the group. Hell, with thinking like that, who needs to spend the thousands I'm spending on college, I could spend $40 on a video game!
They're just playing the wrong games. I have to use my brainpower and creativity to play my favorite game: KarmaQuest on Slashdot. If I just sit back don't think and post any microsoft rules old mpaa rocks crap lunix suxxx0rz, then I lose points.
On the other hand, if I spend some time and get creative and construct a witty, self-referential post that admits that it's there to whore karma, then I can win a lot of points.
Best. Comment. Ever. Enjoy!
Video games rot your brain, and bleaching hair causes brain damage. Since today's kids love both of these, they may be so out of it by age forty that they need to be put in nursing homes!
The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
You're not from America, are you?
I think a Simpsons quote would be appropriate here:
"Damn TV. It's ruined my ability to remember what I'm just like it's..... uh.....(turn on TV to Itchy and Scratchy)... Ha ha ha ha ha"!
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Tis studie is totel BS. Prety soone thay'll sey thet reeding Slahdot causis pour speling.
would require strategic thinking, game theory, and multitasking
Damnit, my Knights keep getting suckered away from the Nash equilibirum!
dabacon
If you're smart enough to file a lawsuit, you'll lose it.
As an aside, before everyone shouts "it's a correlational study blah blah" it's worth pointing out that this study combines a within-subjects experimental manipulation (compares brain activity at rest to activity during gaming) with a correlational variable (compares the effect of the experimental manipulation between gamers and non-gamers). The experimental effect of gaming is strongest in people who game regularly, but it's there for everybody except people who never game.
Words to big. Me play quake now.
URL/source, please?
I'm skeptical, but interested. Several of my cow orkers have commented that I have the reflexes/ability to do that "movie trick" where someone accidentally knocks an object off a desk, and the 7337 d00d manages to catch the object before it falls/spills. Just did it again this afternoon.
I'm still skeptical, because I know that "data" is not the plural of "anecdote", but your posting and this afternoon's "catch" made me realize that I didn't do this in high school. I've since been gaming for 15+ years, mostly RTS and turn-based strategy, but I've put many hours into FPSes and classic '80s "zone-out"/"get into the zone, man" games (Tempest, Robotron) too.
> > "[the researcher's study claims that too much gaming results in brainwave patterns that manifest themselves in] lack of concentration, difficulty with social association, and short temper?"
Humph! If I had friends, we'd get together and go to Japan and tell this guy to manifest his brain function with my shiny metal ass, by biting it!!
Shiny? Metal? Oooh, shiny thing! What was the plan again? Right, another round case modding for the LAN party, then s'more Counterstrike. Cool.
Don't you mean "half" your reaction time?
I guess these things happen when your beta-wave activity slows :-)
Since you've master those problems, here are some slightly more difficult problems for you to tackle:
2) Get laid. Get so good at it that you can walk into any social situation and walk out with someone you just met.
3) Find a person who perfectly compliments your own strengths and faults, marry them, create a strong and lasting marriage, have kids, and raise them to be excellent people.
you get the idea...
I find these games to be much more challenging and rewarding than most video games.
You mean like The Sims? I *Love* that game!
And masturbation making you go blind, life at 60 will really bite the big one.
The lesson is point it away from your eyes when it shoots.
"Face it, a nation that maintains a 72% approval rating on George W. Bush is a nation with a very loose grip on reality.
Hey, it really happens:
<bfinn> THE QUACK IS GAME TO PLAY TO KILL OF PEOPLE TO GUN
It claims that video games can cause behavioural changes, such as lack of concentration [failing to read even the short article introduction on Slashdot], difficulty with social association [not getting any], and short temper [arguing non-objectively and in a personally attached manner as is common on Slashdot] . These effects are also thought to be, to some extent, nonreversible [continuing to not get any for the rest of your life]. It does not state that you are an idiot because you play video games.
Best Slashdot comment ever