Tag Archives: Pokemon epilepsy

red-blue flicker causes epilepsy

In 1997, more than seven hundred children in Japan suffered an epileptic attack while watching an episode of Pokemon cartoon. This was later diagnosed as a case of photosensitive epilepsy (a kind of epilepsy caused by visual stimulus) triggered by a specific segment of the cartoon containing a colourful flickering stimulus. However, despite the ubiquitous presence of colourful displays and materials, very little is known about the relationship between colour-combinations (chromaticity) and photosensitivity. A new study has recently been published that suggests that certain colour combinations, for example, red-blue flickering stimuli, cause larger cortical excitation than other colour combinations such red-green or blue-green stimuli – http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/press-releases/pressrelease.php?releaseID=749