New Brain Scan Pictures Reveal Something Horrible That Happens When Teens Stare Too Much at Smartphones: Health

Parents want to give their children all the tools they can to prepare them for the big world, but in addition to teaching them valuable life lessons, many people also gift their children with a smartphone.

It has become a rite of passage for young people when they reach adolescence; as well as a stinky attitude and loads of GCSE prep, most teenagers in the UK also have a cool gadget.

But after finding out what effect these devices are having on the brains of our next generation, you might think twice about offering a smartphone to a school kid.

Scientists have warned that teenagers are much more susceptible to becoming addicted to their mobile phones as their brains are still developing at this age, and excessive use can completely rewire them.

At this point in their lives, their prefrontal cortex, which boffins explain is essentially the brain’s ‘control system’, is still developing, and it becomes too dependent on the instant gratification young people get from a roll in social networks.

During an episode of ITV’s tonight program, experts looked at MRI scans that showed how a teenager’s brain reacts to pleasurable experiences like hooking up on TikTok or Instagram.

Professor of neuroscience and mental health, Ciara McCabe, explained that adults with fully developed brains know when “enough is enough”, whereas young people today are not programmed that way.

And as a result, teens are more likely to engage in addictive behavior as they become accustomed to this regular stimulation of checking in with their online community.

Instead of experiencing the joys of real life, they seek a quick fix for that dopamine rush.

MRI scans reveal how teenage brains respond differently to smartphone and social media use compared to adults (ITV)

“When you’re using something like a smartphone, if you’re in apps that are pleasant or rewarding, it will activate parts of the brain involved in reward,” McCabe said, according to the Mirror.

“When you’re an adult and you’re looking at a smartphone, you obviously have your brain’s reward system turned on, but you also have a fully developed prefrontal cortex and that’s like a control system.

“There is evidence to suggest that teenage brains or adolescent brains respond differently, and in particular to rewarding experiences, than the adult brain.

“This is likely because parts of the prefrontal cortex have not yet fully developed in younger people and adolescence.”

He explained that this puts teenagers more at risk of becoming dependent on social media, as their brains get used to the constant hit of dopamine they get while online.

It helps your reward system, while many of us who had a device-free childhood and now have a fully developed prefrontal cortex, we have one that doesn’t depend on the rush you get from a social media scroll.

Professor McCabe explained that teenagers are at risk of becoming addicted to their devices because of how their brains react (ITV)

Other studies have also yielded similar results, with research conducted in the US in 2022 suggesting that the brain of a teenager who is constantly active on their smartphone develops differently.

Experts from the University of North Carolina previously explained that young people who checked their online platforms up to 20 times a day became “hypersensitive” to their peers’ social comments.

This habit was linked to subsequent changes in the way their brains responded to the world around them.

Study co-author and chief scientific officer of the American Psychological Association, Mitch Prinstein, explained: “Most teenagers begin using technology and social media during one of the most important periods for brain development during our life

“Our research shows that checking social media behaviors could have important and long-lasting consequences for adolescents’ neural development, which is critical for parents and policymakers to consider when understanding the benefits and the potential harms associated with adolescent technology use.”

Maybe, after all, it’s best left to the adults.