Scientists have tried to determine whether or not very frequent use of social networks has an impact on the brain of adolescents. According to them, overexposure would make them particularly sensitive to the opinion of their peers.
Sand the Millennials experienced the shift to all-digital, the Generation Z, she has never known a world without internet. It is therefore not surprising that his use of social networks is more important: according to a global study published in November 2021, the “GenZ” spends regarding 3 hours a day consulting TikTok, Instagram and otherscompared to 2:25 for the previous generation, born between the beginning of the 1980s and the end of the 1990s.
If this hyperconnection has already been the subject of numerous studies, researchers from the University of Chapel Hill, in North Carolina, are interested in the impact of social media on the development of brain of the adolescents – an approach rare enough to be underlined.
Increased sensitivity to “social rewards”
To carry out this experiment, the team of Eva Telzer, assistant professor of psychology and neurosciences, studied the brains of 169 college students aged between 12 and 15 for three years. As explained by Huffington Postteenagers were divided into three groups: “regular” users, who go to Facebook, Instagram et Snapchat at least fifteen times a day; “moderate” users, who log in between one and fourteen times; and finally “non-regular” users, who visit social networks less than once a day.
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Each year, the brains of adolescents have been subjected to an MRI during a video game game. Purpose ? Analyze brain activity when the game offered them rewards (rewards) or punishments (punishments) in the form of grimaces and smiles. Brain imaging shows that the parts of the brain affected correspond to those governing motivation, affect and cognitive control.
“The results suggest that children who grow up using social media more often become hypersensitive to feedback from their peers“, analyzes Eva Telzer in a press release. An increased sensitivity to social rewards (signs of approval, love or attention from others) which would increase over time.
The study, published in the medical journal JAMA pediatrics on January 3, shows on the other hand that the college students least addicted to social networks developed a decreasing interest in these famous social rewards.
What conclusions can be drawn from this experience?
If these results are at first glance not very reassuring, Maria Maza, doctoral student in psychology and co-author of the study, suggests taking a step back. Certainly, this heightened sensitivity to social rewards might promote compulsive (or even obsessive) use of social networks, but it might also “reflect adaptive behavior that will allow teens to navigate an increasingly digital world.“
“It is important to understand how this new world influences adolescents, adds Dr. Tezler in the columns of the New York Times. It can be associated with changes in the brain, but it can be a good thing or a bad thing. We don’t yet know the long-term implications.“
For the time being – and despite the edifying results of this experiment – it is not possible “to affirm in a causal way that social media modify the brain”, specify the researchers. Other studies, conducted with a larger population sample and over a longer period, will surely provide a clear answer to the question.
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