Smartphone Addiction Creates Imbalance in Brain
Smartphone Addiction Creates Imbalance in Brain
By Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) November
30, 2017
CHICAGO, Nov. 30, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --
Researchers have found an imbalance in the brain chemistry of young people
addicted to smartphones and the internet, according to a study presented today
at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
According to a recent Pew Research Center study, 46
percent of Americans say they could not live without their smartphones. While
this sentiment is clearly hyperbole, more and more people are becoming
increasingly dependent on smartphones and other portable electronic devices for
news, information, games, and even the occasional phone call.
Along with a growing concern that young people, in
particular, may be spending too much time staring into their phones instead of
interacting with others, come questions as to the immediate effects on the
brain and the possible long-term consequences of such habits.
Hyung Suk Seo, M.D., professor of neuroradiology at Korea
University in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues used magnetic resonance
spectroscopy (MRS) to gain unique insight into the brains of smartphone and
internet-addicted teenagers. MRS is a type of MRI that measures the brain's
chemical composition.
The study involved 19 young people (mean age 15.5, 9
males) diagnosed with internet or smartphone addiction and 19 gender and
age-matched healthy controls. Twelve of the
addicted youth received nine weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy, modified
from a cognitive therapy program for gaming addiction, as part of the study.
Researchers used standardized internet and smartphone
addiction tests to measure the severity of internet addiction. Questions
focused on the extent to which internet and smartphone use affects daily
routines, social life, productivity, sleeping patterns and feelings.
"The higher the score, the more severe the
addiction," Dr. Seo said.
Dr. Seo reported that the addicted teenagers had
significantly higher scores in depression, anxiety, insomnia severity and
impulsivity.
The researchers performed MRS exams on the addicted youth
prior to and following behavioral therapy and a single MRS study on the control
patients to measure levels of gamma aminobutyric acid, or GABA, a
neurotransmitter in the brain that inhibits or slows down brain signals, and
glutamate-glutamine (Glx), a neurotransmitter that causes neurons to become
more electrically excited. Previous studies have found GABA to be involved in
vision and motor control and the regulation of various brain functions,
including anxiety.
The results of the MRS revealed that, compared to the healthy
controls, the ratio of GABA to Glx was significantly increased in the anterior
cingulate cortex of smartphone and internet-addicted youth prior to therapy.
Dr. Seo said the ratios of GABA to creatine and GABA to
glutamate were significantly correlated to clinical scales of internet and
smartphone addictions, depression and anxiety.
Having too much GABA can result in a number of side
effects, including drowsiness and anxiety.
More study is needed to understand the clinical
implications of the findings, but Dr. Seo believes that increased GABA in the
anterior cingulate gyrus in internet and smartphone addiction may be related to
the functional loss of integration and regulation of processing in the
cognitive and emotional neural network.
The good news is GABA to Glx ratios in the addicted youth
significantly decreased or normalized after cognitive behavioral therapy.
"The increased GABA levels and disrupted balance
between GABA and glutamate in the anterior cingulate cortex may contribute to
our understanding the pathophysiology of and treatment for addictions,"
Dr. Seo said.
Co-authors are Eun-Kee Jeong, Ph.D., Sungwon Choi, Yunna
Kwon, Hae-Jeong Park, and InSeong Kim.
Note: Copies of RSNA 2017 news releases and electronic
images will be available online at RSNA.org/press17 beginning Monday, Nov. 27.
RSNA is an association of over 54,000 radiologists,
radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists, promoting
excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research
and technologic innovation. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Ill. (RSNA.org)
Editor's note: The data in these releases may differ from
those in the published abstract and those actually presented at the meeting, as
researchers continue to update their data right up until the meeting.
For patient-friendly information on MRS, or MR
spectroscopy, visit RadiologyInfo.org.
SOURCE Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)
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