The Reality of Cinema as Mass Media in Neuroscience Perspective: How Cinematic Works Affect the Human Brain and Psyche

Kirill Krasnov

doi:10.17323/cmd.2025.19775

Kirill Krasnov HSE University https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3348-5677

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17323/cmd.2025.19775

Keywords: movies, mass media reality, narrative, cognitive film studies, theory of mind, neuropsychology, neurobiology

Abstract

Cinema remains a cornerstone of mass entertainment, consistently drawing large audiences. In Russia's entertainment landscape, cinema tickets rank second only to theatre and concert tickets, surpassing shows, museums, and sporting events in 2024. A Mediascope study from January to July 2024 reveals that films and TV shows dominate television viewing, accounting for 40% of all content watched by viewers aged four and older at home or in cottages. The allure of cinema partly stems from the unique ability to safely experience events that are impossible in real life. However, the psychological reasons behind our fascination with moving images on the screen are seldom explored through cognitive-communicative theories. This paper delves into the cognitive aspects that make cinema a compelling form of mass media. It identifies five phenomena contributing to cinema's realism: , "change blindness", "mirror image rule", "intersubject correlation", and "theory of mind". These phenomena help explain cinema's regulatory and recreational functions and its profound emotional impact. Moreover, cognitive insights reinforce the notion that cinema, in Marshall McLuhan's terms, is a "hot" medium — one that fosters complete immersion in the presented information. By examining these cognitive factors, we gain a deeper understanding of cinema's enduring appeal and its place within the broader media landscape.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Kirill Krasnov, HSE University

Student of the Doctoral Program “Communications and Media”

References

Бугаева, Л. (2017). Кино и мозг (Рец. на кн.: Zacks J. Flicker: Your Brain on Movies; Pisters P. The Neuro-Image: A Deleuzian Film-Philosophy of Digital Screen Culture; Embodied Metaphors in Film, Television, and Video Games: Cognitive Approaches). Новое литературное обозрение, 143. https://www.nlobooks.ru/magazines/novoe_literaturnoe_obozrenie/143_nlo_1_2017/article/12377/?ysclid=lsg38dk9r6425679005

Железняк, Н. (2019). Культтерапия. Лекции по психологии искусства. Litres.

Краснов, К. В. (2021). Спойлеры в массовой культуре как современный медиафеномен [Выпускная квалификационная работа, НИУ ВШЭ]. Реестр дипломов НИУ ВШЭ. https://www.hse.ru/ba/journ/students/diplomas/468976486?ysclid=lrxgwkevp6241123303

Краснов, К. В. (2023). Спойлер (в популярной культуре). Большая российская энциклопедия: научно-образовательный портал. https://bigenc.ru/c/spoiler-v-populiarnoi-kul-ture-a404f3/?v=8973806

Луман, Н. (2005). Реальность массмедиа (А. Ю. Антоновский, пер.). Праксис.

Сафина, К. (2018). За гранью слов: О чем думают и что чувствуют животные. Азбука-Аттикус.

Anderson, J. (1996). The reality of illusion: An ecological approach to cognitive film theory. SIU Press.

Bruner, J. S. (1973). Beyond the information given: Studies in the psychology of knowing. WW Norton.

Gładziejewski, P. (2016). Predictive coding and representationalism. Synthese, 193(2), 559–582. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-015-0762-9

Gweon, H., & Saxe, R. (2013). Developmental cognitive neuroscience of Theory of Mind (J. Rubenstein & P. Rakic, Eds.), Neural Circuit Development and Function in the Brain: Comprehensive Developmental Neuroscience. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-397267-5.00057-1

Hasson, U., Landesman, O., Knappmeyer, B., Vallines, I., Rubin, N., & Heeger, D. (2008). Neurocinematics: The neuroscience of films. Projections: The Journal for Movies and Mind, 2, 1–26.

Levin, D. T., & Simons, D. J. (1997). Failure to detect changes to attended objects in motion pictures. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 4(4), 501–506. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03214339

Mar, R. A. (2011). The neural bases of social cognition and story comprehension. Annual Review of Psychology, 62, 124. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-120709-145406

Simons, D. J., & Levin, D. T. (1998). Failure to detect changes to people during a real-world interaction. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 5(4), 644–649. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03208840

Soussignan, R. (2002). Duchenne smile, emotional experience, and autonomic reactivity: a test of the facial feedback hypothesis. Emotion, 2(1), 52. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.2.1.52

Zacks, J. M. (2015). Flicker: Your brain on movies. Oxford University Press, USA.