A person's reaction to violent movies depends on how aggressive he is to begin with.

Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine and the NIH Intramural Program conducted a study involving 54 men who answered a questionnaire that sought to find out if they were aggressive or non-aggressive.

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The participants were then asked to watch different movies for two days. On day one, they watched violent movies with gun fights and street fights.

On day two, they watched emotional and non-violent scenes that depicted human interaction during natural disasters.

The participants were scanned to measure their metabolic activity in the brain and their brain function. Their blood pressure where taken every 5 minutes.

Every 15 minutes, they were asked about their feelings while watching the movies.

Researchers tried to determine if watching violent movies causes different brain activity in aggressive people and non-aggressive ones.

Nelly Alia-Kelin, one of the researchers, said they did this to investigate what's going on in the brains of people who love watching violent movies.

They previously hypothesized that people with aggressive traits will process violent movies differently than non-aggressive people.

Using brain scans, researchers found that even though aggressive people didn't watch aggressive movies, they still remained aggressive. Brain scans also showed that aggressive people have a different brain map than non-aggressive people.

Researchers said that when aggressive people watch violent movies, their orbitofrontal cortex functions less. The orbitofrontal cortex refers to the brain region associated with emotional-related decisions and self-control.

Researchers also found out that when aggressive people watch violent movies, they become more inspired and more determined than non-aggressive types.

The blood pressure of aggressive people dropped, while non-aggressive people saw a rise in their blood pressure.

Alia-Klein said that how an individual responds to their environment depends on the brain of the individual. She said aggression starts from childhood and is solidified into adulthood, helping determine the personality of a person.

These results could determine how media motivates aggressive and non-aggressive people, she explained.

Hopefully, these results will give educators the opportunity to identify aggressive children and teach them on how to handle their aggressive behavior, she concluded.

The study was published in the online journal, Plos One.