LOS ANGELES: TV news may be edited faster than the time it takes the human brain to empathize, neuroscientists at the University of Southern California have found.

“For some kinds of thought, especially moral decision-making about other people’s social and psychological situations, we need to allow for adequate time and reflection,” said Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, an author of the study quoted in ScienceDaily.

Researchers interviewed and tested 13 volunteers subjected to “compelling, real-life stories to induce admiration for virtue or skill, or compassion for physical or social pain.” Brain imaging indicated the individuals needed six to eight seconds to respond to stories of virtue or social pain. (Story continues after Sponsored Link.)

The study, “Neural Correlates of Admiration and Compassion,” slated to appear next week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online Early Edition, is said to have implications for the digital media world. Rapid-fire editing and abbreviated social network feeds like Twitter were mentioned.

Antonio Damasio, lead author of the study, suggested TV news might be delivered to abruptly to allow empathy to develop.

“When it comes to emotion, because these systems are inherently slow, perhaps all we can say is, not so fast,” he said.