Photosensitive seizures provoked while viewing "pocket monsters," a made-for-television animation program in Japan.
"PURPOSE: To describe the recent epidemic of photosensitive seizure that occurred in relation to an episode of the television animation program "Pocket Monsters," we report four patients who experienced seizures while watching the episode in question. We also report some technical aspects of the program episode... In addition, we reviewed the "Pocket Monsters" episode, focusing our attention on the visual techniques used with reference to the Independent Television Commission (ITC) guidelines... Rapid changes in color are believed to be responsible for the photosensitive seizures because all four patients had seizures at around 18:50, when seconds of deep red and bright blue flashes, alternating at a frequency of 12 Hz, were shown. CONCLUSIONS: Regulations for technical aspects of children's programming, including the use of colors, are urgently needed in Japan to prevent a repeated incident."
