Some of the hottest video games today are very heavy on violence and gore. While running around and shooting up things in a virtual brain gym can improve certain aspects of brain function and performance, there is reason to believe that these sort of games wind up doing more harm to society than good.

A recent study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology indicates that frequent exposure to violent video games actually changes the wiring of your brain circuitry in a manner that makes you more likely to inflict violence on others.

Interestingly, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold of the Columbine massacre were both hard-core Doom and Quake addicts, devoting hours at a time to these games.

And this from NBC reporter Stone Phillips, regarding the Beltway Sniper incident: “Muhammad, satisfied that Malvo was able to kill as a sniper based upon the training he gave Malvo on the rifle range, was upset that Malvo was yet unwilling to kill as a sniper. So Muhammad had Malvo play the incredibly violent Microsoft XBox shooter game Halo, switched to sniper-mode or God-mode, to suppress his inhibition to kill. And it worked”