Video violence desensitizes brain.

• Position: Mass Media

Viewing video violence activates specific areas of the brain that are known to be involved in recognizing, remembering, and rehearsing or activating aggressive behavior, contends a study by John Murray, professor of developmental psychology at Kansas State University, Manhattan.

"Children respond to video violence by activating areas of the brain involved in fear responses," Murray explains. "The amygdala--the organ in the brain that recognizes threat in the environment and prepares the body for fight or flight--is activated, along with the posterior cingulate, an area of the brain that stores traumatic events for long-term memory, such as that found in post-traumatic stress disorder victims of violence."

According to Murray, who serves as a senior scientist and visiting scholar at the Center on Media and Child Health at Harvard Medical School Children's Hospital in Boston, there also was evidence of activation of the brain's premotor cortex, indicating that the children were attempting to imitate the boxing scenes on the video they were viewing.

In another study, young males played a violent video game while they were resting in an MRI machine. The adult males, 18-26 years old, were experienced video game players...