Neuroscientists from the University of Vienna and Karolinska Institute found that violent games do not lead to a decrease in people’s ability to empathize. The results of the study were announced magazine eLife.
89 adults who had not been exposed to violent games before participated in the study. They were asked to play violent video games for several weeks and kill as many game characters as possible. Before and after the experiment, scientists measured empathic responses to another person’s pain using psychological tests. The authors also used MRI to record subjects’ brain responses to painful electric shocks administered to a second person.
Data analysis showed that violence in video games had no significant impact on the subjects’ empathic abilities. Additionally, no significant differences were found in the activity of empathy-related areas of the brain. However, the authors do not recommend jumping to conclusions about the safety of violent video games for children.
“In no case should it be concluded that violent video games have been proven harmless. Our study lacks data to support such claims. Several hours of violent video games have no significant effect on the empathy of mentally healthy adult subjects. However, we cannot evaluate the effect of longer experience,” the authors noted.
Previous scientists educated Artificial intelligence to assess the risk of developing addiction to video games.
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Source: Gazeta
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