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The link to the study is broken. The article says that this was just a review of 12 previous studies and that fMRI showed a "decrease in the functional connecti
by autoexec 2y ago
The link to the study is broken. The article says that this was just a review of 12 previous studies and that fMRI showed a "decrease in the functional connectivity in parts of the brain involved in active thinking" in teens who had been diagnosed with internet addiction, but is that caused by internet addiction or are people who already have fewer connections to those parts of the brain more likely to exhibit behaviors that meet whatever the criteria for a diagnosis of internet addiction even is.
When was internet addiction even recognized as an actual disorder? It really wouldn't surprise me if people who have executive function issues end up being easily distracted by the devices designed to do exactly that.
- greyface- 2y ago> The link to the study is broken Correct link appears to be https://journals.plos.org/mentalhealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmen.0000022 https://journals.plos.org/mentalhealth/article?id=10.1371/jo...
- autoexec 2y agoPretty much what I thought: "the studies did not provide clear evidence that IA played a causal role towards the development of the adolescent brain." There were a ton of other limitations too ("Components of the study, such as sample sizes, effect sizes, and demographics were not weighted or controlled", all the studies coming from "China (8), Korea (3), and Indonesia (1)" which might explain how a bunch of kids got diagnosed with a condition that isn't really recognized as a disorder in the west, inconsistent terminology ("online gaming addiction, internet addiction, internet gaming disorder, and problematic internet use") without clear consensus on what those terms actually mean, etc Limiting cell phone/social media use is probably a good idea, especially for teens, but I sure wouldn't say that anyone should panic or change their behavior based on this paper.