時差N小時:暴力電玩會改變我們的大腦么?

Video games are a huge industry kids and youngadults spend more time playing them than watchingmovies or TV.

電子游戲是十分巨大的產業(yè)，兒童和年輕人在這上面花費了遠比看電影和電視更多的時間。

And some of the most popular video games areultra realistic war and fighting games featuringmassive amounts of hi-res violence.

許多當前最流行的游戲則是高分辨率暴力為特征的超現(xiàn)實戰(zhàn)爭和格斗游戲。

So if you're a parent, or a pundit, or maybe even adedicated gamer, you've gotta wonder: does spending countless hours doing virtual violenceto pixelated monsters and warriors have any effect on our sensitive and malleable brains?

如果你是一位家長，或者一位專家，抑或是一位游戲發(fā)燒友，你不禁會感到疑惑，花大量時間在這些由像素構成的怪獸和戰(zhàn)士實施虛擬的暴力行為是否會影響我們敏感而且可塑性很強的大腦?

To find out, researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine studied the effects ofviolent video games on twenty-eight non gaming guys.

為了找出答案，印第安納大學醫(yī)學院的研究者們研究了暴力電玩對于28個從未接觸過該類游戲的人產生的影響。

Half of them played a violent game for a weekand then took a week off.

他們讓一半的研究對象持續(xù)打一周然游戲后休息一周。

The other half didn't play any video games, acting as the control group.

而另一半的人作為對照組，不打任何電玩。

After one week the subjects underwent MRI analysis and then again after two weeks.

一周后，對研究對象進行核磁共振分析，兩周后，再進行一次核磁共振分析。

During the MRI sessions both groups did tasks meant to test their cognitive abilities.

在進行核磁共振期間，兩個小組都接受了旨在測試他們認知能力的測驗。

Now, twenty-eight subjects is a pretty small sample size, but the results were interesting.

盡管28名測試對象這樣的樣本數(shù)是非常小的，但結果卻是十分有趣。

After onlyone week of gaming, the guys that played the violent game showed decreasedactivity in parts ofthe brain associated with cognitive function and emotional control.

在僅僅玩了一個星期的電玩后，這些玩暴力游戲的人就呈現(xiàn)出大腦控制認知能力和控制情緒部分的活動減少的情況。

After a cool down week of nogaming, the subjects' brain functioning was closer to normal.

而那些一周沒有玩游戲的人，他們的大腦功則會恢復到和正常水平相近的狀況。

So does this prove that violent video games warp young men's minds?

那么這項實驗是否能夠證明暴力電玩會扭曲年輕人的思想呢?

Not exactly. That wouldtake a much larger study.

也不盡然。想要證明這個觀點還需要更大規(guī)模的實驗。

But the study at the very least suggests that doing pretend violence may have a real effect onhow we think and act.

但這項實驗至少表明，虛擬暴力確實會對我們的思想和行為方式造成一定的影響。