Social media use linked to brain changes in teens, research shows

Teenagers who frequently viewed social media showed increasing sensitivity to peer feedback, although the cause of the changes was unclear.

The effect of social media use on children is a difficult area of ​​research, as parents and policy makers try to determine the results of a vast experiment already in booming. Successive studies have added pieces to the puzzle, fleshing out the implications of an almost constant stream of virtual interactions beginning in childhood.

A new study by neuroscientists at the University of North Carolina are trying something new, taking successive brain scans of middle schoolers aged 12 to 15, a period of particularly rapid brain development.

The study, published Tuesday in JAMA Pediatrics, is part early attempts to capture changes in brain function correlated with social media use over a period of years.

The study has significant limitations, acknowledge the authors. Since adolescence is a time of expanding social relationships, brain differences could reflect a natural pivot to peers, which could lead to more frequent use of social media.

"We can't causally claim that social media alters the brain," said Eva H. Telzer, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and one of the study's authors.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But, she added, "teens who habitually check their social media show these pretty dramatic changes in how their brain reacts, which could potentially have long-term consequences well into adulthood, sort of setting the stage for brain development over time in rural North Carolina, dividing them into groups according to h They often stated co View Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat feeds.

By age 12, students were already showing distinct behaviors. Regular users reported checking their feeds 15 or more times per day; moderate users verified between one and 14 times; non-habitual users checked less than once a day.

Subjects received three full brain scans, approximately one year apart, as they were playing a computerized game that offered rewards and punishment in the form of smiling or scowling peers.

When performing the task, frequent controllers showed a increasing activation of three brain areas: reward processing circuits, which also respond to experiences like making money or taking risks; brain regions that determine salience, selecting what stands out in the environment; and the prefrontal cortex, which helps with regulation and control.

Results showed that "adolescents who grow up visiting social media more often become hypersensitive to comments of their peers," said Dr. Telzer.

The results don't capture the magnitude of the brain changes, only their trajectory. And it's not clear, according to the authors, whether the changes are beneficial or harmful. Social sensitivity could be adaptive, showing that adolescents learn to connect with others; or it could lead to social anxiety and depression if social needs are not met. not satisfied.

Social media researchers have cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions based on the results.

"They show that the way you use it at some point in your life influences your brain development, but we don't know by how much,...