Links to Prosocial Factors and Alpha Asymmetry in Adolescents during Violent and Non-Violent Video Game Play

The present study examined electrical brain activations in participants playing three different video games. Forty-five adolescents between the ages of 13-17 (M=14.3 years, SD=1.5) were randomly assigned to play either a violent game, non-violent game, or brain training game. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded during video game play. Following game play, participants completed a questionnaire measuring prosocial personality. Results show an association between prosocial personality factors and differential patterns of brain activation in game groups. Adolescents with higher empathy playing the brain training game were positively correlated with frontal asymmetry scores, while empathy scores for those in non-violent and violent game groups were negatively linked to frontal asymmetric activation scores. Those with higher scores in helpfulness in the non-violent game group showed a positive association to left hemisphere activation. Implications behind these findings are discussed in the manuscript.