Is it painful? Playing violent video games affects brain responses to painful pictures
An event-related potential study
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22249405 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ewa Międzobrodzka (0000-0003-2637-7781, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, corresponding author), Johanna C van Hooff (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Elly A Konijn (0000-0002-6134-8700, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Lydia Krabbendam (0000-0003-4074-5149, Centre for Movement Disorders) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 13-23 |
| Publication date | 2022-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Psychology of Popular Media (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2689-6567 • E-ISSN: 2689-6575 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1037/ppm0000290 |
| OpenAlex | W3193989244 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 19 |
Previous research showed mixed evidence on how violent video game exposure (VVGE) may affect empathy for pain in the brain. This study applied an event-related potential (ERPs) approach to improve understanding of how habitual and short-term violent game play may affect top-down and bottom-up empathy for pain brain responses. A total of 58 male participants with different levels of habitual VVGE performed a pain judgment task before and after 40 min of violent game play while their brain responses were recorded. Results showed that only late cognitive-evaluative ERP responses (P3, P625) were sensitive to the pictures’ painfulness, which were also affected by both habitual VVGE and short- term violent game play. As expected, participants with no habitual VVGE showed an ERP pain effect before game play: higher P3 and P625 amplitudes for painful versus nonpainful pictures. In contrast, a similar ERP pain effect was not observed in participants with high VVGE before game play, suggesting habitual desensitization. Short-term violent game play resulted in lower P3 and P625 amplitudes for painful pictures in the no VVGE group, indicating short-term desensitization. We discuss the observed VVGE desensitization effects in terms of top-down regulation of an empathetic response induced by painful stimuli. Though such adaptation could be beneficial in a violent game environment, possible long-term consequences associated with reduced empathic responsiveness in a social context should be further studied. In all, our findings contribute to the debate on the effects of VVGE on the brain by pro- viding first ERP evidence suggesting empathy for pain desensitization
Cognitive psychology · Multimedia · Video game · Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Computer Science · Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior · Psychology
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| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |