From Pixels to Media Effects: A Study of 600 Brains Watching a Suspenseful Movie

• In Event: Narrative and Media Effects in Communication Science and Biology

Abstract

Movies have strong effects on the brain, which range from sensory and perceptual effects to powerful social and affective phenomena. We examine brain responses of 600 viewers watching a suspenseful movie. We utilize automated content-analysis to extract time series for specific movie features and link these to fMRI data. The results expose a hierarchy of movie-driven brain effects that span from basic sensory processing to feelings of suspense. As expected, sensory and perceptual features of brightness, presence of faces, sound, and speech align with changes in visual and auditory regions. Peak moments of suspense are accompanied by a distributed increase in brain activity, overlapping with regions of the default mode network . Moreover, using reverse correlation analysis, we find that peaks in the temporo-parietal junction point to highly social scenes. The current results provide a micro-level foundation of media effects that can be connected to proximal and distal outcomes.

Authors

• Clare Grall, Michigan State University

• Ralf Schmaelzle, Michigan State U