Excessive Internet Usage Can Cause Brain Damage

Excessive Internet Usage Can Cause Brain Damage:

The internet like most technological marvels of the last 50 years has contributed positively towards our growth. But like most things there’s a downside, and it appears one of the biggest downsides to the internet is its impact (adversely) on our brains—particularly for those prone to addiction.

A small study coming out of China is suggesting that people prone to Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) are more at risk of structural and functional interference in the part of the brain that regulates organization. This interference has the potential to lead to cognitive impairment similar to that caused by gambling and alcoholism addiction

Said a spokesperson for the study, “Overall, our findings indicate that Internet addiction disorder has abnormal white matter integrity in brain regions involved in emotional generation and processing, executive attention, decision making and cognitive control,” write the authors. “The results also suggest that IAD may share psychological and neural mechanisms with other types of substance addiction and impulse control disorders.”

So this does mean that people should cut back on their internet use? The answer is not clear cut. For those people who indeed struggle with IAD, the amount of internet use may need to monitored, but for the rest of us, I am sure there’s no need to avoid Facebook.

Do you worry that you may become addicted to the internet? Share your thoughts below.