Internet Addiction May Be Changing Teen Brains

Published: September 19, 2024

Internet Addiction May Be Changing Teen Brains

Movieguide® Contributor

A new study by University College London has found that internet addiction can cause serious damage to teenagers’ brains.

Internet addiction can cause “negative changes in behavior and development,” the study found.

“These changes could mean that teens will have trouble maintaining relationships and social activities, and will lie about online activity,” Tag24 News reports. “Teenagers addicted to the internet may also experience sleep disorders and irregular eating habits, the researchers said. This comes after experts found that internet addiction appears to change the connections between brain networks in teens.”

Movieguide® previously reported on this study:

CNN reported“When participants who were clinically diagnosed with Internet addiction engaged in activities regulated by the brain’s executive function network—behaviors that require attention, planning, decision-making, and impulse control—these brain regions showed significant disruptions in their ability to collaborate, compared with peers without Internet addiction. The authors believe that such changes in signaling suggest that these behaviors may become more difficult to perform, potentially impacting development and well-being.”

The researchers analyzed data from 12 studies conducted in Korea, China and Indonesia, involving 237 young people aged 10 to 19 who had been diagnosed with internet addiction.

“The researchers defined this problem as a person’s inability to resist the temptation to use the internet, which has a negative impact on their mental well-being, as well as their social, academic and professional life,” Tag24 said. “All of the young people in the study underwent brain scans to examine how brain regions interact — also known as functional connectivity — during rest and task performance.”

“All of the studies reviewed by the researchers for this article relied on magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the functional connectivity of participants’ brains both at rest and while performing a task — or, in this case, using the Internet,” the Psychiatrist reports.

The researchers found that people in the study had reduced functional connectivity in areas of the brain that control active thinking.

“The researchers said these changes could be linked to addictive behaviours, as well as behavioural changes related to intellectual abilities, physical coordination, mental health and development,” News24 reports.

“Given the influx of technology and media into the lives and education of children and young people, increasing the prevalence and focus on changing Internet-related behaviors is imperative for the future mental health of children and young people,” the study authors write.

Lead researcher Max Chang noted that adolescent brains are particularly susceptible to Internet addiction.

They are prone to “compulsive internet use, the urge to use a mouse or keyboard and consume media,” he said. “Our research shows that this can lead to potentially negative behavioral and developmental changes that can impact the lives of teens. For example, they may have difficulty maintaining social relationships and activities, lie about online activity and experience irregular eating and disturbed sleep.”

Another author wrote that while the Internet is useful in many situations, it becomes a serious problem when it affects daily life.

“We recommend that young people set reasonable time limits for their daily internet use and ensure they are aware of the psychological and social consequences of spending too much time online,” she said.

Forbes reported: “The researchers caution that the use of fMRI scans to study Internet addiction is limited, so the number of studies involving teenagers is relatively small. Most of the studies have been conducted in Asia, and future studies should compare results from Western countries, they add.”