This Is Your Brain Online

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Maybe the Internet won't exactly fry your brain, but it could change it in other unwelcome ways. A new study found a correlation between Internet addiction and specific brain changes often observed in alcoholics and drug addicts. There was evidence of disruption to the connections in the nerve fibers that connect brain areas involved in emotions, decision making and self-control.

Too many hours of Internet use might actually change your brain. Researchers in China have concluded that those who are addicted to the Internet may experience changes in the brain that are similar to those seen in individuals hooked on drugs or alcohol.

A research team lead by Hao Lei of the Chinese Academy of Sciences used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of 35 male and female adolescents. Seventeen members of the group were classified as having Internet addiction disorder (IAD), based on interviews about their behavior.

In the brain scans of those adolescents with IAD, there were changes in the white matter of the brain, the area that contains nerve fibers. There was evidence of disruption to the connections in the nerve fibers that connect brain areas involved in emotions, decision making and self-control. The changes appeared similar to those seen in brains scans of individuals addicted to alcohol, cocaine, heroin and other drugs, the researchers noted.

The study's findings were published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE.


http://www.technewsworld.com/story/This-Is-Your-Brain-Online-74172.html

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