Internet Addiction Can Cause Physical Damage to the Brain, Just Like Drugs, Say Researchers

Internet addiction can cause physical wrong to the brain, just like drugs, say searchers ByROB WAUGH UPDATED0742 GMT, 12 January 2012 Internet addiction disrupts nerve wiring in the brains of teenagers, a employment has found causing a level of brain damage commonly seen in heavy substance abusers. Similar effects have been seen in the brains of people exposed to alcohol, cocaine and cannabis. The discovery shows that being hooked on a behaviour can be just as physically damaging as addiction to drugs, scientists believe.Brain scans showed significant damage to livid social occasion in the brain, proving, the look forers claim, that behavioural addictions can cause physical brain damage in the same way as drug addictions. Internet addiction rowdiness (IAD) is a recently recognised condition characterised by out-of-control internet use. Sufferers overstep unhealthy amounts of time online to the extent that it impairs their quality of life. Denied access to their computers, they may sleep with distress and withdrawal symptoms including tremors, obsessive thoughts, and involuntary typing movements of the fingers.Until now research on IAD has focused on psychological assessments. The new study, from China, used a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technique to look at its effects on brain building. Scans were carried out on 17 internet-addicted adolescents and 16 non-addicted individuals, and the results compared. In the IAD-diagnosed teenagers, the scientists found evidence of disruption to white matter nerve fibres connecting vital part of the brain involved in emotions, decision making, and self-control.A measurement of water distribution called fractional anisotropy (FA) was used which provides a picture of the state of nerve fibres. wiped out(p) FA was an indicator of poor nerve fibre structure. The researchers, led by Dr Hao lei from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan, wrote in the online journal Public subroutine library of Science ONE Our findings suggest that IAD demonstrated widespread reductions of FA in major white matter pathways and such(prenominal)(prenominal) abnormal white matter structure may be linked to or so behavioural impairments. In addition, white matter integrity may serve as a potential new treatment target.. Previous studies had shown abnormal white matter structure in the orbito-frontal regions of the brains of people exposed to alcohol, cocaine, cannabis, methamphetamine and ketamine, said the researchers. They added Our finding that IAD is associated with afflicted white matter integrity in the orbito-frontal regions is consistent with these previous results. The scientists fishy the damage is caused by disrupted myelin, the fatty insulating sheath that coats nerve fibres and helps them to function. Commenting on the findings, Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, consultant psychiatrist at Imperial College London, said This type of research exploring the differences between normal brains and br ains of people who suffer from internet addictions is groundbreaking as it makes clear neuroimaging links between internet addiction and other addictions such as alcohol, cocaine and cannabis amongst others. We are finally been told what clinicians suspected for some time now, that white matter abnormalities in the orbito-frontal cortex and other actually significant brain areas are present not only in addictions where substances are involved but also in behavioural ones such as internet addiction. Currently, internet addiction is officially classified as an mpulse control disorder rather than a genuine addiction.Further studies with larger numbers of subjects would be necessitate before intendation could be given to reclassifying it, said Dr Bowden-Jones. She added It is.. possible to consider this study as one of the seminal papers in find how future generations of clinicians will view internet addiction. Read morehttp//www. dailymail. co. uk/sciencetech/article-2085369/Inte rnet-addiction-cause-physical-damage-brain-just-like-drugs-say-researchers. hypertext markup languageixzz2QdsZxeo0 Follow usMailOnline on TwitterDailyMail on Facebook