Bio103

Studies have shown that repeated exposure to violent video games over time does affect the structure and functioning of the adolescent brain. The brain is a malleable and ‘plastic’ structure that can change and evolve with every stimulus we give it. Whether this stimulus comes from studying Spanish, training in basketball or playing a video game, every single input can affect the structure and functions of the brain if the conditions are right. While some video games enhance multitasking, visual perception and the brain’s ability to process information, research has suggested that violent video games can influence aggressive behaviour, aggressive cognition and physiological arousal. A study conducted by Doctor Vincent Matthews and his colleagues at Indiana University School of Medicine have found that there were sustained changes in the regions of the brain associated with cognitive function and emotional control after a group of young adult men were playing violent video games for a week. Similarly, in laboratory studies, some researchers have found an increase of about four percent in gamers’ levels of aggression after playing violent video games. However, other research groups have concluded that factors such as family background, mental health and

There are many ways to get someone’s pulse racing, and one effective way is based on how suspenseful a movie is. Many people who are thrill-seekers love the rush of excitement when they watch a scary movie, particularly one filled with lots of suspenseful scenes. It is said that the brain is wired, “to perceive what it sees as real” (Sparks, 2015). Therefore, it is difficult for the brain to ignore what is not considered reality, and if the movie is very realistic and terrifying than the brain will make the body react accordingly. To test how suspenseful movies affect people physiologically, an experiment will be conducted to test how the heart rate is affected by suspenseful movies. The movie, Jaw, was preselected on the basis that movies that contain realistic things terrify people the most. The movie is about a young woman who is killed by a shark while swimming in the ocean and the police who investigate the case decide on closing up the beach. However, the mayor overrules it, believing that the shutdown of the beach will affect the income for the town. So, a scientist and a retired sailor decide to help the mayor on a trip to find the killer beast and end it all.

According to the American Psychological Association (2016), the human cardiovascular system involves the heart, arteries, and veins that react in conjunction to various forms of stress (para. 9). Chafin and her associates recognized that much research has been conducted on how stress can have a negative impact on the human body and how prolonged or excessive stress can be associated with the onset of high blood pressure and heart related diseases. The basic foundation of this scientific experiment was to test whether music had any influence in reducing stressed related effects on the cardiovascular system. However, these researchers wanted to expand their investigation one step further by studying the effect of music on an individual’s stress levels once the stressor was removed and no longer existed. One particular study that the researchers referenced was the 2002 study of Glynn, Christenfeld and Gerin, that indicated an association between an individual’s emotional reaction and their ability to rally back to normalcy. They discovered that if the individual’s focus was no longer on the stressor, they rebounded quicker than those who were continuously connected emotionally to the stressful event. Such continual reliving of the event may have both a long-term physical and emotional toll on the individual.

Today, there are numerous factors that affect a person’s heart rate. Studies have shown that movies can be one of these factors. Different genres of movies would affect the heart rate in different ways. The higher the intensity of the movie, the higher a person’s heart rate will be. The purpose of this experiment would be to find which amount of horror will affect a person’s heart rate the most. The hypothesis for this experiment would be if there are more aspects of horror, then the heart rate will increase, when heart rate is a function of the amount of horror.

Carnagey, N. L., Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2007). The effect of video game violence on physiological. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 489-496. Retrieved from www.sciencediet.com

A woman is brought to an emergency room complaining of severe pain in her left iliac region. She claims previous episodes and says that the condition is worse when she is constipated, and is

Discussion on the physiological responses to extreme high stress are a key component of Dave Grossman’s book. Many parts of the body experience change during situations of high stress. Some of of these elements include, increased heart rate, lungs struggling to pull in air, and impaired motor skills, and tunnel vision. As the heart rate increases and remains elevated many of these issues persist and worsen. In chapter four, Grossman introduces the reader to a diagram that explains his system for understanding the effects of increased heart rate. This color coded coordination system describes the physical and cognitive experiences that accompany different heart rates. This spectrum ranges from a resting heart rare of 80 beats per minute, and maxes out at 220

According to Hollingdale and Greitemeyer (2014), Video games that are violent are identified as very popular games that are played by the consumers. There is a concern that violent video games may pose a public health risk due to the levels of aggression due to the effects of the video games. In a cross sectional studies it has been found that there is a positive correlations with real life and video game aggression. Also in longitudinal studies shows that playing violent video games constantly it can predict that there may be later aggression even after controlling for initial levels of aggression. Experimental studies have showed that playing the video game is a factor of an increase level of

Aim: I want to find out if the amount of time a person is exposed to being scared while playing a horror game will affect their blood pressure. I want to see if a small amount of time affects a person 's blood pressure more or does playing it longer affect it more?

One interesting thing I learned from this study was that there were no gender differences, I found that interesting because I always assumed that males and females would react to certain comedic situations differently. Also, I found myself wondering how similar the stories were for the participants in the second study. I think one thing researchers who are doing similar research might want to try is doing a group study, I found myself wondering if people would have reacted to either the stressful video or the twelve random objects differently if they were doing so with a small group of

For this study, students investigated how the ECG will change after a subject smells aromatherapy oils that are commonly seen as calming such as lavender and peppermint. With this data, students will also be comparing the ECG readings in regards to the subject’s stress level. Formally, the hypothesis was that if the aroma therapy oils are inhaled the overall heart rate for the subject will decrease because of the calming properties of these oils. More so, students also predicted that subjects with higher stress levels will be more susceptible to a heartrate decrease due to aroma therapy.

Individuals respond differently to stress, but along with other factors in their lifestyle choice, their heart rate is bound to either increase or decrease when listening to a particular melody. Historically, Native Americans and Africans used music as a healing ritual for to ease stress and treat sleep. Research in Western medicine has thus turned to the effects of music on the cardiovascular system, blood pressure, heart rate, or blood flow through arteries. (https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/using-music-to-tune-the-heart). Cardiovascular activity is one of the major functions that allows for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide while transporting and providing nutrients for the cells. Varieties of music has certain psychological,

There are a number of factors that can alter a person’s heart rate. It can be environmental, physical, mental, or chemically-induced (Hjortskov et al, 2004). One such factor that can induce a change in heart rate is mental activity and stress (Bernardi, et al., 2000). Heart rate, even without any sort of environmental stimulus such as mental activity, is controlled primarily by the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). This is a division of the Peripheral nervous system that controls the function and regulation of internal organs such as the heart (Kamath, Fallen, and McKelvie, 1991). The ANS can be further divided into two systems: parasympathetic and sympathetic systems.

When the sense organs (of hearing or sight) receive the “alarm signal” they instantly pass it to the brain. Then the brain sends messages to the muscles and organs and therefore, muscles contract, often very abruptly. If the state of alertness is prolonged, muscle activity and tension remain high in order to prepare the body of reacting quickly to any subsequent stimuli. In a fight or flight situation, heart rate changes. Furthermore, there are a series of chain reactions. The first thing that happens is that the heart starts to beat faster in order to pump a copious supply of blood to the essential

As a result of violent games causing the individual to become more aggressive, study has shown that the heart rate is affected in boys aged between 12-15. Researchers from Stockholm University, Uppsala University and Karolinska Institute in Sweden have worked together with this study. In this study several boys aged 12-15 were asked to play two types of digital games in the evening to determine whether violent games has an impact on the heart rate and sleep of children. The outcome of this study was that the heart rate consistency was a concern when children played violent games compared to non-violent games. However the children who played violent games before sleeping felt they had not slept well compared to non-violent games.