Sex, drugs and rock and roll are ticklers for your “entertainment centre of the mind”. Doctors call it the “temporal lobe”. Some women call it their “G Spot”. The “pre-frontal lobe” is where you do “executive functions” like thinking, decision making and the like.
Gee: The temoporal lobe! I call it the fun factory.
The temporal lobes are involved in the primary organisation of sensory input.
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The same part of your brain that allows you to enjoy a painting is also the place that processes, humor, joy, sex and, believe it or not: meditation and prayer!
But enjoy your fun as long as you can because there are many health issues that threaten your mind’s entertainment centre: one of the biggest is Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s is a complex disease that gradually destroys a person’s memory, ability to learn, reasoning, ability to make judgments, communication skills and the ability to carry out normal daily activities. Scientists have struggled to understand the biology of the disease and its root causes for years.
In November, 2006, the University of Indiana Medical School completed an interesting study on the parts of the human brain most engaged while playing activity-based or violent video games.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain function, the Medical School of IU found that adolescents who had played violent video games exhibited more brain activity in a region thought to be important for emotional arousal and less activity in a brain region associated with executive functions. Executive functions are the ability to plan, shift, control and direct one’s thoughts, ideas and behaviour.
“Our study indicates that playing a certain type of violent video game may have different short-term effects on brain function than playing an exciting but non-violent game,” principal study investigator Dr Vincent Mathews said.
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The group that played the non-violent game exhibited more mental stimulation or activation in the prefrontal portions of the brain. The prefrontal lobes are believed to control inhibition, concentration and self-control. The non-violent game players also showed less activation in the area involved in emotional arousal.
“This data differs from our earlier studies because in this study adolescents were randomly assigned to play either a violent or a non-violent game,” said William Kronenberger, associate professor of psychology at the IUSM Department of Psychiatry. “Therefore, we can attribute the difference between the groups specifically to the type of game played. Earlier studies showed a correlation between media violence exposure and brain functioning, but we did not actually manipulate the teens’ exposure to media violence in those earlier studies.”
Future studies to better understand the duration and meaning of the relationship between exposure to media and brain function are planned.
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