players of the hugely popular online fantasy world World of Warcraft reveal that areas of the brain involved in self-reflection and judgement seem to behave similarly when som
eone is thinking about their virtual self as when they think about their real one.
or intelligent
Previously, researchers have observed that people easily adopt the persona of their virtual selves,
t about themselves and their avatars compared with real and virtual others, two regions stood out: the medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex. That makes sense as prior research has linked the medial prefrontal cortex to self-reflection and judgement.
"next to no difference" in the activity in these regions when people thought of themselves and of their avatar
Caudle's team also noticed key differences between how people thought about the virtual and real worlds, which must be a necessity for preserving your sense of reality.
Brain scans of avid players of the hugely popular online fantasy world World of Warcraft reveal that areas of the brain involved in self-reflection and judgement seem to behave similarly when someone is thinking about their virtual self as when they think about their real one.