 A more detailed study , " The Brony Study " , is currently being conducted by Dr. Patrick Edwards , a psychology professor at Wofford College with his neuropsychologist associate Dr. Redden . The two had initially compiled one of the forementioned informal surveys and Edwards has presented the results at the ongoing brony conventions . Edwards noted that the brony culture provided " the opportunity to study a fan phenomenon from its inception " , and planned to continue the survey to watch the evolution of the culture . Professor emeritus Bill Ellis of Penn State University has compared the brony culture to that of otaku , fans of Japanese anime . Ellis , speaking at the 2012 AnimeNEXT convention , considered that both bronies and otaku fans are " psychologically and developmentally normal " and are simply " non @-@ majoritarian " in their choice of active interests . Ellis noted that fans of both groups often are ridiculed for their interest in media targeted for the opposite gender . 
