Watching cartoons activates the medial prefrontal cortex in children

S Han; [No Value] [No Value]; Glyn Humphreys

doi:10.1007/s11434-007-0505-5

Watching cartoons activates the medial prefrontal cortex in children

S Han, [No Value] [No Value], Glyn Humphreys

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) of human adults is involved in attributing mental states to real human agents but not to virtual artificial characters. This study examined whether such differential MPFC activity can be observed in children who are more fascinated by cartoons than adults. We measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while 10-year-old children watched movie and cartoon clips, simulating real and virtual visual worlds, respectively. We showed neuroimaging evidence that, in contrast to adults, the MPFC of children was activated when perceiving both human agents and artificial characters in coherent visual events. Our findings suggest that, around the age of 10 years, the MPFC activity in children is different from that in adults in that it can be spontaneously activated by non-human agents in a virtual visual world.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3371-3375
Number of pages	5
Journal	Chinese Science Bulletin
Volume	52
Issue number	24
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-007-0505-5
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2007

Keywords

MPFC
cartoon
children
theory-of-mind
fMRI

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10.1007/s11434-007-0505-5

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title = "Watching cartoons activates the medial prefrontal cortex in children",

abstract = "The medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) of human adults is involved in attributing mental states to real human agents but not to virtual artificial characters. This study examined whether such differential MPFC activity can be observed in children who are more fascinated by cartoons than adults. We measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while 10-year-old children watched movie and cartoon clips, simulating real and virtual visual worlds, respectively. We showed neuroimaging evidence that, in contrast to adults, the MPFC of children was activated when perceiving both human agents and artificial characters in coherent visual events. Our findings suggest that, around the age of 10 years, the MPFC activity in children is different from that in adults in that it can be spontaneously activated by non-human agents in a virtual visual world.",

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AU - Han, S

AU - [No Value], [No Value]

AU - Humphreys, Glyn

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N2 - The medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) of human adults is involved in attributing mental states to real human agents but not to virtual artificial characters. This study examined whether such differential MPFC activity can be observed in children who are more fascinated by cartoons than adults. We measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while 10-year-old children watched movie and cartoon clips, simulating real and virtual visual worlds, respectively. We showed neuroimaging evidence that, in contrast to adults, the MPFC of children was activated when perceiving both human agents and artificial characters in coherent visual events. Our findings suggest that, around the age of 10 years, the MPFC activity in children is different from that in adults in that it can be spontaneously activated by non-human agents in a virtual visual world.

AB - The medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) of human adults is involved in attributing mental states to real human agents but not to virtual artificial characters. This study examined whether such differential MPFC activity can be observed in children who are more fascinated by cartoons than adults. We measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while 10-year-old children watched movie and cartoon clips, simulating real and virtual visual worlds, respectively. We showed neuroimaging evidence that, in contrast to adults, the MPFC of children was activated when perceiving both human agents and artificial characters in coherent visual events. Our findings suggest that, around the age of 10 years, the MPFC activity in children is different from that in adults in that it can be spontaneously activated by non-human agents in a virtual visual world.

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KW - cartoon

KW - children

KW - theory-of-mind

KW - fMRI

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VL - 52

SP - 3371

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JO - Chinese Science Bulletin

JF - Chinese Science Bulletin

IS - 24

ER -

Watching cartoons activates the medial prefrontal cortex in children

Abstract

Keywords

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