Reginald Mitchell's List: Misinformation Debate Team B2 Refute video game of literacy

• When they compared the brains of frequent gamers (defined as those who played video games more than 9 hours per week) to moderate gamers they discovered that the first group showed larger volume in the left striatum, a brain area involved in risk and reward processing.
• In addition, the frequent gamers showed more activity in the ventral striatum when losing money during a gambling task
• “This could explain a potential mechanism that makes people play more,” says Kühn. “Even when facing losses, the reward center of the brain is activated—suggesting a potential mechanism for non-substance addictions.”
• “While you can’t say that this increase in volume or activity suggests that people are addicted, it would seem the striatum is more engaged in these people who play more video games,” he says. “It may be changing how they perceive the rewarding aspects of the game. That is very interesting.”
• Several behavioral studies suggest that exposure to violent video games can impair judgment and increase aggression in teenagers.

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• The tests, described as boring, dull, and unlike gaming itself, required that the subjects perform the same highly specialized task over and over on displays using geometrical shapes or letters.
• The tests were given to gamers and non-gamers. All of the subjects were male since no qualified female game players could be located on the university campus, said Bavelier.
• The first test flashed a small object on a screen for 1/160 of a second and the participant would indicate where it flashed. Inattention to the screen would cause the brain to miss the appearance of the object. Gamers tended to notice the object far more often than non gamers.
• he second test presented 1 to 12 small objects on a screen at once and the subject had to type how many objects they had seen. Gamers saw the correct number of objects more often than non-gamers.
• The final test flashed black letters on a screen in fast succession. One letter was white, and it may or may not have been followed by a black "X." Gamers again picked out which letter was white and whether or not an "X" followed it better than non-gamers.

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• The condition described here is known as "photosensitive epilepsy" (PSE). Other common terms noted in the literature include visual reflex seizures, photoparoxysmal responses, intermittent photic stimulation seizures, video game seizures, television seizures and idiopathic photosensitive occipital lobe epilepsy, just to name a few. This type of seizure activity is triggered by such visual stimuli as flickering or flashing lights from fireworks, video games or TV broadcasts.

• Studies have shown that video games, computer games and TV shows produce what is referred to as "flicker stimulus." In many cases, the flicker is a range of 10Ï30 flashes per second, a rate which causes epileptic seizures; seizures are not induced at higher or lower ranges.

   
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  udies with EEGs have shown that these visual stimuli and specific flashing frequency cause epileptiform discharge and present with the clinical features characteristic of epileptic seizures. Recent attempts to minimize the dangers of certain TV and video game photic stimulation images have had varied success.

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