Smartphone Addiction May Cause Brain Imbalance

By Shelley Taylor

Researchers have found an imbalance in the brain chemistry of young people addicted to smartphones and the internet, according to a study presented on Thursday.

According to a recent Pew Research Center study, 46 percent of Americans say they could not live without their smartphones. Along with a growing concern that young people, in particular, may be spending too much time looking at 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.

Seo

Hyung Suk Seo, MD, professor of neuroradiology at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues used magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to measure neurotransmitter levels in the brains of smartphone- and internet-addicted teenagers.

“Smartphone addiction is considered a category of internet addiction, as they share core risk factors,” Dr. Seo said.

Teen using a smartphone

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 questionnaires 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 areas under the GABA and glutamine+glutamate peaks at 3.01 and 3.8 ppm (red lines) were measured by fitting to double and single Gaussian functions, respectively.

“The higher the score, the more severe the addiction,” Dr. Seo said.

The addicted teenagers had significantly higher scores in depression, anxiety, insomnia severity and impulsivity, according to Dr. Seo.

The researchers performed MRS examinations 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 (GABA) and glutamate-glutamine (Glx). 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. Side effects of increased GABA levels include drowsiness and anxiety.

More study is needed to understand the clinical implications of the findings, but Dr. Seo said 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 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.