physical aggression. A man goes to an appointment with a woman that he sees for two years. When he goes to the bathroom, one of his friends sits at the table and chats with the girlfriend. When the boyfriend comes back, he interrupts his friend by asking for his number. The words are exchanged, and the boyfriend ends up hitting the other man on the head with a bottle of beer.
The second scenario involves a couple at a first date. They watch a movie in the apartment of the woman. They begin to kiss during the movie, but as things get more intimate, the woman tells the man to stop. Despite his repeated protests, the man was sexually assaulting him.
The study participants then had to evaluate on a scale of 0 to 10 (0 being a random and 10 being 100% chance) if they would act as the violent protagonist. For those who had brain stimulation, the likelihood that they would engage in physical or sexual aggression under these circumstances was 47% and 70%, respectively, lower than that of those who had not been stimulated.
[19659004] The authors believe that the results of this experiment are promising.
"Much of the understanding of the causes of crime was caused by social causality, but research on brain imaging and genetics also showed that half of the variance of violence can be attributed to biological factors ". -author Adrian Raine, a psychologist and professor Penn Integrates Knowledge, said in a statement from Penn Medicine. "We are trying to find benign biological interventions that society will accept, and transcranial direct current stimulation is a minimal risk, it's not a frontal lobotomy, in fact, we say the opposite, that the anterior part of the brain
This experience does not mean that if scientists used this technique, all violence would disappear soon. Much more research is needed, and the experience has only involved "healthy" people. It is still unclear whether this might work on those who are predisposed to violence or have shown violent tendencies in the past, "according to the study.
It is also unclear whether the intentions people will stay the same over time, but experience suggests that this physical stimulation in the brain can have a positive impact on one's thoughts.
"The challenge is, very angry, aggressive people often the feeling of having the right to be violent, "said Dr. Prudence Gourguechon, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst with a clinical practice in Chicago.It is not affiliated with the study but has worked with patients who are fighting against violence.
To use this technique, one would have to obtain the consent of one person, said Gourguechon. "And you could have another motivational problem here, because you should find people who admit that they first have a problem with violence. "
She said that the experience is interesting, but that it should be tested in people who are repeatedly violent or prone to violent acts outside, rather than healthy subjects, to see if that changes their violent intentions.
"The most important point of this study may be how it shows the real possibilities of more direct brain interventions," said Dr. Jesse Viner, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer of Yellowbrick, a practice of psychology in Evanston, Illinois, which uses a combination of techniques including brain-targeting technologies, called neuromodulation interventions. Its patient population includes youth who have substance abuse, trauma and other mental health issues. "The science is evolving from treatments such as drugs that impact all parts of the body, to treatments that are more direct and focused brain interventions like this one that are much more promising."
Experience has shown that even though there was a difference in the intention that had people to experience violence, it does not happen. There was no real difference in the way the two groups acted. Both groups were allowed to "release their negative energy" on a simulated voodoo doll intended to represent the friend or date in the scenario. When it came to pushing pins into the doll, there was no difference between the groups' behavior.
"This is not the magic bullet that will eliminate aggression and crime," Raine said. But he thinks it might be a kind of intervention that primary offenders might want to try to reduce the chances of committing further violence.
Dr. Roy Hamilton, co-author of the study, believes that the experiment demonstrates the possibility of such violence. "The ability to manipulate such complex and fundamental aspects of cognition and behavior from the outside of the body has enormous social, ethical and perhaps even legal implications," said Hamilton, associate professor of neurology. at Penn's Perelman School of Medicine, said in the statement. "Perhaps, the secret to having less violence in your heart is to have a properly stimulated mind."
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