social media use linked to changes in adolescent brains
researchers found that teens who checked their feeds more than 15 times a day had more activity in the parts of their brain associated with rewards, determining what deserves attention and what doesn't, and motivation.
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“teens who grow up checking social media more often are becoming hypersensitive to feedback from their peers,” dr. eva telzer, the study's lead author, told the new york times. getty
social media may be changing the way teenagers’ brains function, according to a new study that relates to the reward centre of the brain.
the study, published in jama pediatrics, found that young teens who regularly and continuously checked their social media feeds showed a “distinct trajectory” in the parts of the brain that rule social rewards and punishments. the brains of teens who didn’t use social media with the same regularity did not show the same rate of change.
“for youth who habitually check their social media, the brain is changing in a way that is becoming more and more sensitive to social feedback over time,” the study’s lead author dr. eva telzer, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at the university of north carolina at chapel hill, told cnn. “and this is setting the stage for how the brain continues to develop into adulthood.”
while it doesn’t necessarily mean that social media is causing these changes, the changes are significant to note, she added.
“we can’t make causal claims that social media is changing the brain,” telzer told the new york times. but “teens who are habitually checking their social media are showing these pretty dramatic changes in the way their brains are responding, which could potentially have long-term consequences well into adulthood, sort of setting the stage for brain development over time.”
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the study, which involved 169 grande students in rural north carolina, looked at how the participants interacted with three social platforms: instagram, snapchat and facebook. over three years, starting when the students were 12 and 13, researchers asked them about their social media habits and took annual brain scans. the scans took place while the teens played a computer game that involved them anticipating social feedback from peers that represented either a reward, a punishment, or was neutral.
the scans showed that the “habitual” social media users — the ones who checked their feeds upwards of 15 times a day — had more activity in three specific parts of their brain, associated with rewards, salience and motivation. the reward centre also responds to risk-taking behaviour, including gambling, the new york times explains. salience involves distinguishing what deserves attention from what doesn’t, while motivation in this context refers to the prefrontal cortex, which rules regulation and control.
the study did have several major limitations: it relied on self-reporting, which isn’t always accurate. it also didn’t include tiktok, the fastest-growing social media app, and one of the most popular among teens.
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teens can become ‘hypersensitive’ to feedback
the results clearly demonstrate that “teens who grow up checking social media more often are becoming hypersensitive to feedback from their peers,” telzer told the times.
“we can’t make causal claims that social media is changing the brain,” study co-author eva h. telzer, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the university of north carolina, chapel hill, told the new york times. but “teens who are habitually checking their social media are showing these pretty dramatic changes in the way their brains are responding, which could potentially have long-term consequences well into adulthood, sort of setting the stage for brain development over time.”
as the study points out, this is part of the appeal that’s built into the apps: they’re “designed to hold users’ engagement by maximizing social rewards.” alerts from the app — likes, direct messages, other notifications — arrive unpredictably on a maximally powerful variable reinforcement schedule, conditioning individuals to check social media habitually in anticipation of this social feedback.
but this hypersensitivity isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
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“heightened sensitivity could lead to later compulsive social media behaviours, or it could reflect an adaptive neural change that helps teens navigate their social worlds,” telzer told cnn.
the study looked specifically at changes in the brain — the question of whether those brain changes led to shifts in behaviour was outside of its scope. it certainly “is asking the question” about whether social media can change behaviour, as medical correspondent dr. jennifer ashton told abc news. but the answer to that question will lie in further research.
adolescent brains re-adapt rapidly
social media has significant effects on adult brains, too: studies have shown that it can have negative impacts on our ability to concentrate, leading to what one neuroscientist told the guardian is “cognitive degradation.” and increased screen time in general, ashton told abc, is linked to increased risk of obesity, irregular or dysregulated sleep, and depression.
but adolescence is an important area of study because the brain changes so significantly during the teenage years. the changes that happen in the brain in the teen years is comparable to the “development and reorganization” that happens in infancy, child and adolescent psychologist dr. neha chaudhary told cnn. the teen brain frequently changes and adapts to its environment.
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“this is the new norm,” telzer told the times. “understanding how this new digital world is influencing teens is important. it may be associated with changes in the brain, but that may be for good or for bad. we don’t necessarily know the long-term implications yet.”
maija kappler is a reporter and editor at healthing.
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