Wednesday, June 11, 2008

How Movies Affect the Brain

ScienceDaily (Jun. 9, 2008) — Using advanced functional imaging methods, New York University neuroscientists have found that certain motion pictures can exert considerable control over brain activity. Moreover, the impact of films varies according to movie content, editing, and directing style. Because the study, which appears in Projections: The Journal for Movies and Mind, offers a quantitative neuroscientific assessment of the impact of different styles of filmmaking on viewers' brains, it may serve as a valuable method for the film industry to better assess its products and offer a new method for exploring how the brain works.

The study's authors are: Uri Hasson, Barbara Knappmeyer, Nava Rubin, and David Heeger, who hold appointments in NYU's Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science, as well as Ohad Landesman, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Cinema Studies at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and Ignacio Vallines, a research scientist at the University of Munich.
The researchers relied on two methodological tools in their study: functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and inter-subject correlation (ISC) analysis. fMRI utilizes a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner--like that routinely used for clinical evaluation of human anatomy. But it is reprogrammed to get a time-series of three-dimensional images of brain activity. In a typical fMRI experiment, a time-series of brain activity images is collected while a stimulus or cognitive task is varied. ISC analysis is employed to measure similarities in brain activity across viewers--in this case, it compared the response in each brain region from one viewer to the response in the same brain region from other viewers. Because all viewers were exposed to the same films, computing ISC on a region-by-region basis identified brain regions in which the responses were similar across viewers.

"In cinema, some films lead most viewers through a similar sequence of perceptual, emotional, and cognitive states," the researchers wrote. "Such a tight grip on viewers' minds will be reflected in the similarity of the brain activity--or high ISC--across most viewers. By contrast, other films exert--either intentionally or unintentionally--less control over viewers' responses during movie watching. In such cases we expect that there will be less control over viewers' brain activity, resulting in low ISC."

To stimulate subjects' brain activity, the researchers showed them three motion picture clips: thirty minutes of Sergio Leone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"; an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents "Bang! You're Dead"; and an episode of Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." To establish a baseline, subjects viewed a clip of unstructured reality: a 10-minute, unedited, one-shot video filmed during a concert in New York City's Washington Square Park.
The results showed that ISC of responses in subjects' neocortex--the portion of the brain responsible for perception and cognition--differed across the four movies:
The Hitchcock episode evoked similar responses across all viewers in over 65 percent of the neocortex, indicating a high level of control on viewers' minds;
High ISC was also extensive (45 percent) for "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly";
Lower ISC was recorded for "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (18 percent) and for the Washington Square Park, or unstructured reality, clip (less than 5 percent)
"Our data suggest that achieving a tight control over viewers' brains during a movie requires, in most cases, intentional construction of the film's sequence through aesthetic means," the researchers wrote. "The fact that Hitchcock was able to orchestrate the responses of so many different brain regions, turning them on and off at the same time across all viewers, may provide neuroscientific evidence for his notoriously famous ability to master and manipulate viewers' minds. Hitchcock often liked to tell interviewers that for him 'creation is based on an exact science of audience reactions.' "

However, the researchers emphasized that low and high ISC does not necessarily imply that the viewers were not attentive to or not engaged with the events in those films.
"ISC measures only the ability of the filmmaker to evoke similar responses across all viewers," they wrote. "Similar brain activity across viewers, or high ISC, can be taken as an indication that all viewers process and perceive the movie in a similar manner. Variability in the brain activity across viewers--that is, low ISC--can be due to either a less engaged processing of the incoming information, which occurs when daydreaming, or due to an intensely engaged but variable processing of a movie sequence."
For example, they add, an art film may demand an intense intellectual effort from viewers that differs from one viewer to the next, resulting in differences in neural activity.

Apart from the findings, the study points to a new method--inter-subject correlation (ISC) of brain activity--for measuring the effect of films on viewers' minds, which may pave the way to an innovative approach the researchers label "neurocinematic" studies. While they add that a cognitive science analysis of film is not new, functional imaging methods may be of use to both film theorists and the film industry by providing a quantitative, neuroscientific assessment of viewers' engagement with a film.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080606105432.htm

New York University (2008, June 9). Film Content, Editing, And Directing Style Affect Brain Activity, Neuroscientists Show. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 11, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/06/080606105432.htm

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's appropriate time to make a few plans for the future and it is time to be happy. I've read
this post and if I may just I want to recommend you few interesting
things or tips. Perhaps you could write subsequent articles
relating to this article. I want to learn more issues about it!
My web-site : learn writing fast

Anonymous said...

This design is spectacular! You most certainly know how
to keep a reader amused. Between your wit and
your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost.

..HaHa!) Great job. I really loved what you had to say, and more
than that, how you presented it. Too cool!
My web-site cheap electronics

Anonymous said...

I like the valuable information you provide in your articles.

I'll bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently. I am quite sure I'll learn many new stuff right here!

Best of luck for the next!
Here is my web blog - www.vetsforonehealth.org

Anonymous said...

Fantastic items from you, man. I've remember your stuff previous to and you are simply too great. I really like what you have got here, really like what you're stating and the way in which during which
you say it. You're making it entertaining and you still take care of to stay it smart. I cant wait to learn far more from you. That is actually a tremendous web site.

My web page ... Studies Show Herbal Supplements

Anonymous said...

Wonderful article! This is the kind of info that are supposed
to be shared across the internet. Disgrace on Google
for no longer positioning this submit upper! Come on over and discuss with my site .
Thanks =)

Here is my page; www.iaeste.pw.edu.pl

Anonymous said...

Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your webpage?

My blog is in the very same area of interest as yours and my visitors would truly benefit from some
of the information you present here. Please let
me know if this alright with you. Thanks a lot!

my webpage :: best Prices

Anonymous said...

Wow, amazing blog layout! How long have you been running a
blog for? you make blogging glance easy. The total look
of your web site is wonderful, as neatly as the content!



My web page takemassageclasses.com

Anonymous said...

I like the valuable info you provide in your articles.
I'll bookmark your blog and check again here frequently. I am quite sure I will learn many new stuff right here! Good luck for the next!

my web site - pod coffee makers

Anonymous said...

Many places throughout the world still grind
flour via a stone and stone base, grinding grain by crushing the
rock across the pieces to eventually have some flour. It is important that we
all have certain nutrients in our diets, and we must eat foods with these nutrients
every day in order to be healthy. The best juicer for juicing wheatgrass at home is
a masticating juicer.

Also visit my website ... http://howmuchjoy.Com/