Another study claims internet addiction is real, and works like cocaine.
[R]esearchers used MRI scanners to reveal abnormalities in the brains of adolescents who spent many hours on the internet, to the detriment of their social and personal lives...
Which reminds me of Maryanne Wolf's Proust and the Squid (2007), which was solid science.
More:
The results showed impairment of white matter fibres in the brain connecting regions involved in emotional processing, attention, decision making and cognitive control. Similar changes to the white matter have been observed in other forms of addiction to substances such as alcohol and cocaine.
But.
The authors acknowledge that they cannot tell whether the brain changes are the cause or the consequence of the internet addiction. It could be that young people with the brain changes observed are more prone to becoming addicted.
And:
Professor Michael Farrell, director of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Australia, said: "The limitations [of this study] are that it is not controlled, and it's possible that illicit drugs, alcohol or other caffeine-based stimulants might account for the changes. The specificity of 'internet addiction disorder' is also questionable."
It's fascinating, the ontological status of internet addiction. It's either a real live thing, for which there are medical clinics and state policies. Or it's a phantasm.
(thanks to Ed Webb's Diigo; image by Habi)
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