UK tabloid claims video games “are giving kids dementia”

14 October 2011

In a shocking exposé over on UK tabloid/peer-reviewed scientific journal The Sun, a “leading neuroscientist” has revealed chilling evidence that playing games can trigger dementia in children.

I say “evidence”; it’s really more like an opinion, but I guess when you’re a “leading neuroscientist” your opinions are basically incontrovertible truths.

So, according to “leading neuroscientist” Baroness Greenfield, “Screen technologies cause high arousal which in turn activates the brain system’s underlying addiction. This results in the attraction of yet more screen-based activity.”

The terrifying reality is that connections in a child’s brain “can be temporarily disabled by activities with a strong sensory content — ‘blowing the mind’, or they can be inactivated permanently by degeneration — i.e. dementia.”

So… yeah.

Actually, it turns out that Baroness Greenfield has a bit of a history of making statements like this one.

Ironically enough, she’s also previously launched a range of brain-training games (available from Amazon for just £90!).

I’m sure she has some clever way of rationalising this.

UK tabloid claims video games are “are giving kids dementia”

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