# How can a cartoon cause a seizure?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-a-cartoon-cause-a-seizure/273691>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 8, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-a-cartoon-cause-a-seizure/273691 "2004-11-08T18:56:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hadrian0117](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Hadrian0117](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hadrian0117)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-a-cartoon-cause-a-seizure/273691/1 "2004-11-08T18:56:18Z")

</div>

How can a cartoon cause a seizure? [Electric Soldier Porygon](http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-467/epid-158982/), an episode of popular Japanese cartoon _Pokémon_ caused over 700 children in Japan to have seizures. How can flashing lights cause seizures like that? Do you already have to have epilepsy?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-a-cartoon-cause-a-seizure/273691/2 "2004-11-08T19:05:25Z")

</div>

[Scientists probe cartoon seizures](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/651224.stm)

> [@](#):
>
> The precise reason why a cartoon caused hundreds of children to have seizures may have been uncovered by experts.  
> …  
> But an Italian study, published in the March issue of Nature Neuroscience, found that children prone to a particular type of epilepsy nearly all had problems in one particular area of the brain.  
> …  
> Photosensitive epilepsy is thought to affect between 0.5% and 0.8% of children aged between four and 14.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-a-cartoon-cause-a-seizure/273691/3 "2004-11-08T20:13:28Z")

</div>

Here’s a level-headed article about the whole thing: [http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-05/pokemon.html](http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-05/pokemon.html)

And Snopes has the clip and says no. [http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/seizure.htm](http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/seizure.htm)