TV and epilepsy

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Even in ancient Rome, in the slave market, they used the rotation of a potter's wheel, rhythmically reflecting the sun's rays, to identify their epilepsy. (Fomichev S. I.)

In December 1997, a wave of epileptic seizures swept across Japan, which occurred during the demonstration of the cartoon "Pokemon" (short for Pocket Monsters - "pocket monsters"). It was argued that seizures of epilepsy were triggered by a flashing screen. In the "dangerous" scene (and epilepsy was caused by a very specific scene), the red background was replaced by blue. The incident caused a stir in the press. The phenomenon of "anime-manga" (Japanese animation) turned out to be a candidate for enemies of the people. Anger of mothers, public alarm, a series of posts that sparked a backlash from hentai fans. Conspiracy theories (and what about), about the pre-programmed effect of the animated flasher (the selected frequency and color combination could not be a coincidence). Calls to ban "anime" and Japanese computer games in America. Falling stocks of animation and game producers on the stock exchange.

How likely is such a phenomenon theoretically?

PHOTOSENSITIVE EPILEPSY

Photosensitive (photosensitive) epilepsy is a condition in which high intensity flickering light causes epileptic seizures.

It is sometimes called reflex epilepsy. Among people with epileptic seizures, only 2-5% have photosensitive seizures. Recently, information has appeared about an increase in the incidence of such seizures, which is associated with a massive hobby for video games. The prevalence of photosensitive epilepsy also depends on nationality and hereditary predisposition …

Television is the most powerful seizure-causing factor in people with photosensitive epilepsy. The most important thing is the distance of the viewer from the screen. It is necessary to seat the person so that part of the screen is obscured by a screen. Fatigue and alcohol can increase the effect of light.

This was written in 1995, two years before the Japanese incident. The Japanese were far from the first to experience the effects of flicker.

ABCNews published a timeline of research on the effects of flashing light on the human psyche a year ago. Several extracts directly related to the case:

1959 The artist and poet Brian Giesin began hallucinating on a bus ride through a shady alley due to the change of light and shadow. He liked it, and a year later he built a "Machine of Dreams": rotating at a frequency of 78 rpm (the artist apparently used an old turntable as a motor. Note. Dossier) striped paper cylinder with a hundred-watt bulb inside. With the help of this machine, some lucky people managed to achieve a shift in consciousness.

In the early 60s, there was a fashion for pulsating lights in discos. As a result - the first victims of epileptic seizures in discos.

1966 The Flicker experimental film premieres at the New York Film Festival. The creator immediately warned the epileptics that they should not. The film lasted 30 minutes. Some hallucinated. The rest just had a headache.

1991 Video game manufacturers recognize that repeated screen flashes can cause seizures. The company behind the ill-fated Pokémon - Nintendo - is beginning to warn consumers about the risk. The next year, Sega issued the same warnings. However, they apply to those with a known predisposition to seizures. It is impossible to identify "newcomers" in advance.

April 93 - Three Englishmen fall victim to TV commercials. The video is removed from the show and the blinking is removed from it.

In September 1993, Nintendo wins a lawsuit initiated by a Michigan fan of electronic games. The court found that Nintendo was in no way to blame for the predisposition of this person to seizures, and their connection with games is not obvious.

What's more, the following year, a New York pediatrician publishes an article claiming that games actually have beneficial effects - identifying epileptics in a relaxed home environment.

It should be noted that not only light, but also sound causes seizures. Not necessarily television. There was a case that a person could not calmly hear Debussy.

In Japan, the following happened (in brief):

On the evening of December 16, "Pocket Monsters" was shown on TV, which featured a short five-second episode with a "blinking" red-blue sky. 685 children and adults, watching the cartoon, huddled in a seizure, ambulance calls began. 200 people were hospitalized. The next day, all of Japan already knew about it. The culprit (red and blue episode) was shown on TV again ("see what you can't watch?"). The second session caused a new wave of seizures - several hundred more complaints. The mothers of the victims especially complained. The age range of the victims turned out to be surprisingly wide - from 3 to 58 years old. In some children, as a result of the seizure, suffocation began. The Yumiuri Shimbun newspaper reported data from the Ministry of Education - symptoms of varying severity were found after transmission in 12,950 children. The animators did not use any super-special effects to achieve it - the reason was the color "blinker". In Japanese homes, where rooms are small and television screens are large, the risk of a seizure is heightened.

Science Daily reported that the "fault" of the blue-red blinking in "Pokémon" is proven. This article was reprinted by Millenium Frontier: Color Changes In TV Cartoons Cause Seizures

… Rapid changes of light and dark, or contrasting patterns affect neurons, causing them to produce electrical impulses at a higher frequency than usual. In people with photosensitive epilepsy, an "electrical storm" can cause muscle cramps and loss of consciousness.

Although photosensitive epilepsy is not a new phenomenon, the case in Japan is unprecedented in its magnitude. For the first time, the same stimulus caused such a numerous and simultaneous reaction.

Research has shown that color is much more harmful than black and white. Of the four epileptic children tested, only two responded to frequent changes of light and darkness, but all four responded to changes in contrasting colors. Thus, a new sub-category of this nervous disease was identified - chromatic epilepsy. The result is confirmed by last year's reports from England, where there were also cases of seizures provoked by a change in contrasting colors.