London, Oct. 16: Playing violent video games does make people more aggressive, according to new research.

Scientists monitored the brain activity of volunteers as they played such games, and their research reinforces fears that the scenes of extreme aggression portrayed on screen can lead to copycat behaviour in real life, particularly among youngsters.

The work follows the outcry last year over the game Manhunt, which was feared to have been implicated in the murder of a teenage boy. Stefan Pakeerah’s parents called for it to be banned after their 14-year-old died at the hands of Warren Leblanc, 17, who was said to have been obsessed with the game.

In the study carried out by Michigan State University, 13 men were observed playing a latest-generation violent game. Each participant’s behaviour was analysed in conjunction with his brain pattern.

Ren? Weber, a senior researcher on the project, said there was a link between playing a “first-person shooting game” ? where events are seen from the viewpoint of the game’s central character ? and brain activity that was considered characteristic of aggressive cognitions.