RSNA: 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.