Characters from the television show Breaking Bad. Photo credit: Frank Ockenfels/AMC, Flickr
Young adult men who watched more violence on television showed indications of less mature brain development and poorer executive functioning, according to the results of an Indiana University School of Medicine study published online in the journal Brain and Cognition.
The researchers used psychological testing and MRI scans to measure mental abilities and volume of brain regions in 65 healthy males with normal IQ between the age of 18 and 29, specifically chosen because they were not frequent video game players.
Lead author Tom A. Hummer, Ph.D., assistant research professor in the IU Department of Psychiatry, said the young men provided estimates of their television viewing over the past year and then kept a detailed diary of their TV viewing for a week. Participants also completed a series of psychological tests measuring inhibitory control, attention and memory. At the conclusion, MRI scans were used to measure brain structure."We found that the more violent TV viewing a participant reported, the worse they performed on tasks of attention and cognitive control," Dr. Hummer said. "On the other hand, the overall amount of TV watched was not related to performance on any executive function tests."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140618100507.htm
Abstract available at Brain and Cognition: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278262614000803
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