Spontaneous Brain Activity Did Not Show the Effect of Violent Video Games on Aggression: A Resting-State fMRI Study

Abstract

A great many of empirical researches have proved that longtime exposure to violent video game can lead to a series of negative effects. Although research has focused on the neural basis of the correlation between violent video game and aggression, little is known whether the spontaneous brain activity is associated with violent video game exposure. To address this question, we measured the spontaneous brain activity using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We used the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and fractional ALFF (fALFF) to quantify spontaneous brain activity. The results showed there is no significant difference in ALFF, or fALFF, between violent video game group and the control part, indicating that long time exposure to violent video games won't significantly influence spontaneous brain activity, especially the core brain regions such as execution control, moral judgment and short-term memory. This implies the adverse impact of violent video games is exaggerated.

Keywords: aggression; amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF); fractional ALFF; resting state fMRI; violent video game.

FIGURE 1

Result of amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) after Alphasim correction, with voxel size p < 0.001, cluster size = 13, p < 0.05. No clusters were found.