INTENSE flashing lights or rapid colour changes on TV can trigger brain
seizures in some people. But a simple light filter could put a stop to such
seizures and might even replace the drugs some severely affected people take to
prevent them.
The harmful effect of flashing lights on TV was dramatically demonstrated in
1997 when an episode of the Japanese cartoon Pokémon triggered
seizures in nearly 700 children. A British advertisement in 1993 triggered three
seizures.
A team led by Yukitoshi Takahashi at Gifu Hospital in Japan has since found
that the majority of TV sets that induced…
