The Dark Side of Adolescence: The Vulnerability of Young Minds to Internet Addiction and the Impact on Cognitive, Personality, and Physical Development

Max Chenag, the head of the research team, emphasized the critical stage of adolescence for significant biological, cognitive, and personality changes. The vulnerability of young people’s brains to impulses related to internet addiction, compulsive media use, and network consumption was highlighted as a concern. These behaviors could lead to negative developmental and behavioral changes that impact various aspects of life.

Researchers noted that across all regions, increased brain activity during rest was seen in young people, while communication between parts of the brain involved in cognitive functions like thinking, memory, and decision-making decreased. These changes were linked to potential addictive tendencies and behavioral changes affecting mental health, development, intellectual abilities, and physical coordination.

Dr. Lior Ungar explained that the ongoing development of the brain from birth through late twenties involves structural changes in wiring, communication, and chemical secretion for proper functioning. In cases of addiction, the brain adapts to seek pleasure and leads to an increased need for stimuli like screen exposure. This results in a higher demand for dopamine secretion and potentially leads to addiction. Ungar expressed concerns over prolonged screen exposure on children and youth’s brains and speculated that it could harm other brain abilities in the future such as curiosity, creativity, understanding empathy organization skills.

To prevent these negative effects from happening again parents should enforce reasonable time limits on internet use for children. If needed consulting with doctors for psychological treatment or psychotherapy could be beneficial.