Violent People React Differently to Violent Movies, Research Shows
Does consuming violent media inspire real-world aggression and violence? A new study hints that there probably isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on whether your brain is already wired for aggression. Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the NIH Intramural Program set up an experiment to measure brain activity in response to violent media in two groups of men. One group had a history of violent tendencies including assault, the other did not. The experiment took place over three days. One the first day they were shown violent movies including street fights and shootings. On the second they were shown non-violent movies. And on the third they were shown nothing. Their brain activity, feelings and blood pressure were monitored. When watching violent videos the aggressive men showed less activity in their orbitofrontal cortex than the non-aggressive men. The orbitofrontal cortex is described by the study as a brain region “associated by past studies with emotion-related decision making and self-control.” Aggressive men also generally had lower blood pressure when