A new study has found that Internet addiction changes signals between different areas of the brain in teens and may make them more likely to engage in other addictive behavior.
Researchers explained that Internet addiction is linked to the disruption of certain signals involved in multiple neural networks.
“These networks play an important role in controlling our attention, in cooperation with intellectual ability, working memory, physical coordination, and emotional processing. All of this has an impact on mental health,” said study co-author Max Zhang, a researcher at University College London (UCL).
In the study, Zhang and his colleague Erin Li reviewed neuroimaging studies of the effects of Internet addiction on young people's brains.
The review focused on 12 neuroimaging studies of Internet-addicted adolescents, which examined changes in connectivity between brain networks, which work in concert to control important behaviors and development.
It turns out that when Internet-addicted teens engaged in activities governed by the brain's executive control network (such as behavior that requires attention, planning, and decision-making), these brain regions showed "significant" disruption in their abilities to work together.
“Disruptions in functional connectivity have been frequently reported during tasks that require attention and concentration,” Zhang said. “Such changes in signals may impact development and well-being. Existing answers only paint an incomplete picture that does not necessarily reflect Internet use as positive or positive.” "significantly negative."
He says more studies, including a larger number of people from a broader population, are needed to confirm how Internet addiction changes the way the brain controls behavior, and thus our general well-being.
But Professor David Ellis, a behavioral scientist at the Institute of Digital Security and Behavior at the University of Bath, who was not involved in the study, urged caution about the findings.
He cautioned that measuring Internet “addiction” is not universally accepted, and certainly cannot be diagnosed using the survey tools used in the studies included as part of the review.
"Any correlation between functional connectivity and Internet 'addiction' is at the mercy of many founders," he added.
The study was published in the journal PLOS Mental Health.
Internet addiction is a very serious disease.
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