• April 20, 2024

How much you like Facebook to be connected to the functioning of a certain part of your mind. One study suggests that the reward system can answer why Facebook is addictive.

Through the use of MRI, German researchers found that activity in the nucleus accumbens (the reward center of the brain) was higher after receiving positive social comments from people who were avid users of the internet social network.

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"As human beings, we have evolved to care about our reputation, and currently, one way to manage our reputation is through the use of social networks such as Facebook," said the study's author. Dar Meshi, postdoctoral researcher at the Freie University in Berlin .

"Our study reveals that the processing of social gains from reputation in the nucleus accumbens left predicts the intensity of Facebook's use of individuals.

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For the study, published in the current edition of the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience , where 31 people participated, the participants were asked about the use of Facebook, including how many Facebook friends they had and how much time they spent on the internet social network each week.

In addition to his brain scanner, a videotaped interview was made to the volunteers. They were told to what extent they were valued by other people, and they also saw what people thought of another volunteer.

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The study showed that those who received positive comments experienced a stronger activation of the nucleus accumbens that those who saw how another person received the positive comment. This difference was greater or lesser depending on the intensity of the use that person made of Facebook.

"Our findings that linked the use of social networks with the individual response of the reward system of the brain could also be relevant for future research both in education and in the clinic," the study authors wrote in a press release. of the magazine.

They added that, however, their findings did not determine whether positive comments from social networks attracted people to these websites or whether the long-term use of these websites altered the way the brain processes these comments. And you, what emotions does it generate to enter your Facebook?

Video Medicine: Quit social media | Dr. Cal Newport | TEDxTysons (April 2024).