PLAYING VIOLENT VIDEO GAME REDUCES THE LIMBIC ACTIVATION DURING EXPOSURE TO SOCIAL INCLUSION PICTURES

Potential effects of violent videogames have been broadly discussed regarding their association with the real-life behavior. Violent videogames have been often considered as enhancer of aggressive behavioral reactions. The General Aggression Model (GAM) (Anderson and Bushman, 2002) states that a long-term exposure to violence in videogames could be considered as a cognitive cue that leads to an increase of aggressiveness. On the other hand, the GAM hypothesized a desensitization toward violent content and a decrease of empathy and prosocial behavior. According to that, the present study hypothesized a decrease of fronto-limbic activation in response to social pictures after playing with a violent videogame. The electroencephalographic data were recorded of thirty-five participants, using Net Station 4.5.1 with a 256-channels HydroCel Geodesic Sensor Net, during experimental visual task. Each participant was exposed to three presentation (T0, T1, T2) of 60 stimuli (30 social inclusion vs. 30 neutral images). After T0 the participant played for 6 minutes with a orientation videogame. After T1 he played for 6 minutes with a violent videogame. The presentation order of the two types of videogames was randomly assigned. Event-related potential (ERP) components and low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (sLoreta) were analysed. Main results showed a earlier latency of P2 in occipito-temporal montage and a lower activation of amygdala, hippocampus, parahippocampus and temporo-parietal junction in response to social inclusion condition after the violent videogame compared to orientation videogame. Findings suggest that playing violent videogames could lead to a lower emotional involvement in social inclusion situations.