How Smartphone Addiction Changes Your BRAIN The recordings reveal how the gray matter physically changes in shape and size in addicts, similar to drug use.
- German researchers examined the brains of 48 participants using MRI images
- The sample consists of 22 smartphone addicts and 26 non-addicts
- The researchers found reduced gray matter volume in key areas of the brain
- A similar phenomenon has been observed in people suffering from drug addiction
By Joe Pinkstone February 18, 2020
Addiction to smartphones physically changes the shape and size of the human brain, in a similar way to the brains of drug addicts, this study found.
Images taken with an MRI scanner revealed that the brains of people with SPA (smartphone addiction) have a smaller volume of gray matter in some key parts of the brain (Figure 1). The recordings also revealed reduced activity in the brains of smartphone addicts, compared to non-addicts. Similar patterns and trends of reduced gray matter have been recorded in the brains of drug addicts.
German researchers examined 48 participants using MRI scans: 22 with smartphone addiction and 26 non-addicts. In a study published in the journal Addictive Behaviors, the researchers write: 'Compared to the control group, people with smartphone addiction showed less gray matter volume in the left anterior insula, inferior temporal cortex, and parahippocampus.' Reduced gray matter in one of these areas, the insula of the cortex, has previously been associated with addiction to psychoactive substances.
| WHAT IS 'SMARTPHONE ADDICTION'? The term "smartphone addiction" is often criticized in the scientific literature. Some experts argue that the lack of severe negative consequences, compared to other forms of addiction, makes the term misleading. Some say that the problem is not the smartphone, it is just a medium for accessing social networks and the Internet. Instead, alternative terms were proposed, such as: "problematic use of smartphones" and the like. Despite the controversy surrounding the term 'smartphone addiction' as described above, it is still the prevailing term in the scientific world. In addition, the psychometric instruments used in many studies explicitly refer to the term "smartphone addiction". In the coming years, we can expect the term ‛smartphone addiction‛ to change to more appropriate terms, as discussed here.
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The authors add that this is the first physical evidence of the connection between the use of smartphones and physical changes in the brain. Researchers from the University of Heidelberg write: "Given their widespread use and increasing popularity, this study calls into question the safety of smartphones, at least in individuals at increased risk of developing smartphone-related addictive behaviors." Addiction to smartphones worries scientists and medical experts more and more, because especially children spend more and more time on these devices. A worrying report recently revealed that most children (53 percent) already own a mobile phone by the age of seven.
The report, which was based on a study of 2,167 children aged 5 to 16 in Great Britain, shows that by the age of 11, nine out of 10 children have their own mobile device. In high school, almost every child has their own device, says the same report. It also turned out that 57 percent of children sleep with a phone next to their bed, and almost two out of five (39 percent) young people say that they could not live without their phone. The researchers say that all this clearly shows the extent to which phones can 'dominate children's lives'. We are concerned about the ubiquitous use of these phones in society, because the physiological and health consequences are still largely unknown, experts warn in the latest study.
