Complaining And Video Games May Have A Negative Impact On Our Brain?

Complaining and listening to someone’s complains is not a good thing, and it has never achieved something good as well. Some say that complaining is a good way to get everything out of our chest. Maybe it’s true.

Maybe it is good to let go of everything that bothers us from time to time, but the brain reacts differently when we complain, so we may wish never to complain again.

The brain is not a simple organ; it is a complex one that works together with consciousness to learn, regenerate, and recreate itself. The brain and consciousness form the human personality.

It is a creator as well as the product of reality, and now, scientists understand how it creates reality.

Steven Parton is a philosopher and computer scientist, and he is the author of the study in which it was examined how negative emotions such as complaining, experienced by others or ourselves affect the body and the brain.

The study made numerous close observations in order to help us understand why some people are always in a negative mood. According to his theory, complaining and negativity make physical changes in our bodies and mind.

Also, Parton says the brain re-wires itself based on the things that it is continuously exposed to. So, the theory says that complaining and negativity create even more complaining and negativity.

Furthermore, Parton explains that the brain is made of synapses that are divided by synaptic cleft which is a space. Thoughts cause the synapses to shoot a chemical to the cleft which builds a bridge.

This bridge can be crossed by an electric signal that carries the information you are thinking about. And, each time when the electrical charge is triggered, the synapses become closer to lower the distance that this electrical charge needs to pass.

So, the brain is rewiring in its way while physically changing itself, so the thoughts become easier to trigger. Moreover, Parton’s understanding is that the electrical connection that the brain uses will become shorter, and the brain will choose them more often.

In this way, the personality is changed. Nonetheless, we are conscious creatures, and we can affect this by knowing how our thoughts work.

As humans, we are capable of choosing our thoughts, instead of fear, we can choose love, and in this way, our brain and personality become positive.

The Meaning of Empathy and the Mob Effect

Besides the effect that complaining has, there is something more. This scientific explanation goes to the dynamic between two individuals while providing an understanding of how complaining about other people brings us down.

Thanks to the mirror-neurons, we learn from the environment. Also, these neurons are the vital biochemical element of empathy. The human brain relates to other people’s expressions.

So, our empathy makes us respond by feeling the same emotion to understand and relate to that other person.

This means that when someone comes to with gossip, drama, and negativity, that is affecting you biochemically, so you have lower chances of being happy.

Being exposed to this type of situation causes dangerous stress and negativity, as well as complaining, make it worse.

Parton says that if you are always thinking negatively and always complaining, you will not be able to think and find solutions. So, the things in your life will stay the same.

How Do Action Video Games Affect Our Brain?

One Canadian study which was published in Molecular Psychiatry says that video games may hurt our brains, but they may decrease the grey matter.

The question is whether there is a cost of the video games exhibiting better motor control abilities, short-term memory, and visual attention. Studies say that people playing action video games for 90 hours are shown to have lost grey matter in the hippocampus.

And, the hippocampus is the most important structure which is involved in episodic memory or autobiographical events, and spatial memory or orientation.

On the other hand, people who used the hippocampus to navigate, after playing for 90 hours also showed to increase their grey matter. And playing 3D games for the same hours causes increases in all participants.

According to the co-author of the study, Dr. Veronique Bohbot, people who play video games are more likely to be responsive learners than those who do not. This is important when you know the significance of the hippocampus.

Those who have lower amounts of grey matter are at higher risk of suffering from depression, Alzheimer’s disease, PTSD, and schizophrenia. (1)

Not All Video Games Are Alike

The studies included people from 18-30 who had never played games before, and there were 64 of them. They needed to play for 90 hours games like Killzone, Borderlands, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, and 3D games like Super Mario 64.

However, video games are not all the same. Studies say that some video games may be causing harm, and some may be beneficial for the brain.

Since 3D games increase the grey matter, it can be concluded that this type of game is safer for the brain. Besides the results of the studies, further research is needed.