Web addiction and brain change

[FranzB]

An interesting medical report
BBC News - Web addicts have brain changes, research suggests

 

[Influx]

It's obvious that there would be changes. But it's however interesting to see a definitive look at the report, especially when its very significant.

 

[Qdos]

It's obvious that there would be changes...

What makes you say that, how it anything "obvious" so to speak?

 

[Gornot]

Seriously? Will these articles and "researches" ever just f*****g stop? Now they're comparing it to drug addiction? Again: seriously?!

There is no such thing as a web addiction, an addiction to PCs, cell phones, video games, or anything similar. There's just opportunity to make certain parts of your life easier and stupid people that drown themselves too deep into it all and don't know when to stop... Actually, let me correct myself: DON'T WANT TO stop! Embracing technology is pretty much like anything else in life, but boundaries need to be made. It's not addiction, it's human stupidity.

Is a programmer who spends at least 8 hours a day, 5-6 days a week in front of a computer making a video game, of a piece of software, of professionally design a website - an addict? I don't think so.

Gah, I could go on and on, but I don't want to rant.

 

[FranzB]

You are mixing up a few things. Sure it's human stupidity to become addicted to drugs but that does not change the fact that the brain is damaged by it. A drug addict, however, never will admit it, no matter what the evidence is.
And they were not talking about working behind a computer. That is somewhat different from a web addiction.
They were simply comparing brain scans of drug addicts to those (teenagers) addicted to the web and saw the same changes. And it was also said that more investigations should be done for a definite answer.
It always pays to read the stuff carefully.

 

[Layback Bear]

Drinking coffee, smoking and online at the same time. Three addictions at the same time. Isn't it great? Some times adding a little Jack Daniels to the coffee, now I got four of them going at the same time. Life is good.

 

[FranzB]

Ridiculing it seems somewhat out of place. Besides the difference between what you are referring to and what addiction entails is that addiction is never enjoyed.

 

[seekermeister]

The article doesn't really give enough information for a layman to understand the issue, or if there really is an issue. At first, I thought those photos were MRIs, which display electrical activity in the brain, but apparently not these. They speak of scans of brain matter itself, which I'm not familiar with (scans, not brain matter).

It should be noted that just about any kind of activity or inactivity, will have some kind of effect on our brains and bodies, so without more information, I can't see how anyone, including physicians and researchers can truly understand how significant this is.

It interested me, that the second and third photos in the bottom row reminded me of the sign of Scorpio...at least how it was shown in the movie Split Second, which they somehow connected with the devil.

 

[Layback Bear]

Their are many things that can be addictive and it varies from person to person. I'm addicted to reading history and it very well might be changing my brain. I'm no doctor but I would think that anything you do a lot of over a period of time will effect the way the brain works but I'm not sure that is all bad. Their are some thing one might do a lot of just for the enjoyment and their for it might not be a addiction. People who play gulf, pocket billiards, and or darts train the brain as much as their mussels. It's normally called focusing. Their for publishing a medical report with so few people involved to me is a bit foolish. That is why my last post was meant to be a little funny. Now to the subject; can using the internet be habit forming, I would believe it could be for some people. Having millions and millions of people using the internet a lot and only finding a few that might be considered addicts deserves ridiculed. Some cell phone users will stop what ever they are doing to answer it. Eating, drinking, time in bath room to making woopie they stop and answer the phone, now that is addiction. I don't have a cell phone because I don't need another addiction.

 

[FranzB]

@ Layback Bear
Maybe you should print out the article, put the paper as usual parallel to the earth's surface and read it as opposed to have it displayed on a surface made of some translucid material and placed at about 90 degree to the earth's surface. It seems to make a difference.
The paper is worded very carefully: "suggests"- "indicates" and NOT "proves". In addition, it is said that more research is necessary because, and you can believe me, those people know very well that no final conclusions can be drawn from 13 persons investigated. Those are preliminary results indicating that there may be something. And that's all.

 

[Layback Bear]

FranzB I read the complete article. That's the point, it shouldn't have been written with so few people being tested. Have a nice day.

 

[FranzB]

@ Layback Bear

Yes, but it's a moot point. The trouble is, i think, that they were really in a no-win situation.
Not publish it and the criticism will come later why they did not publish it earlier so that other researchers have a lead and could start a similar project.
Publish it and the criticism will come that it is not a representative number of persons scanned (mind you, those people must probably first consent to being scanned and since they were teenagers the parents must consent).
It is coming to the point where scientific researchers (also?) need an army of lawyers.
Still i think it was worded very, very carefully with lots of leeway.

 

[sonshi]

I am addicted to breathing!

 

[M1GU31]

I am addicted to breathing!

me 2 OMG is there somthing wrong with me and i'm addicted to staying awake and sleeping omg the worlds gonna end i knew the Mayans knew 2012 was the end


















lol

 

[FranzB]

Not only childish but also very dumb remarks.

 

[pincushion]

It is well known that taxi drivers have changes in their brains due to the amount of memory devoted to 'the knowledge' and also that professional musicians similarly have changes in their brains so it comes as no surprise that if you concentrate on one particular activity then changes are likely. Whether one can call excessive use an addiction is debatable but we (some) do seem overly fond of our mobiles and/or computers to the extent that we are becoming dependent upon them. Try doing without them for a week to determine what they mean to you.

:huh:

 

[FranzB]

True about the musicians. On a brain scan it can even be seen that someone is a musican, without much of a doubt.

About mobiles: i see it too often........ guy and girl coming into a café or pub, sitting down, then each takes out the mobile and that's it as far as any contact between them goes. It could be though that they are talking to each other via the mobiles.

 

[Qdos]

As I understand things the report was written based on a small group of 14-21 year olds, whose brains were still very much developing, and presumably needed those MRI scans for 'other reasons' which might suggest a reason, other than computer use, which may have been grounds to believe the scan results may have been abnormal anyway.

One mustn't forget that the Radiographers making those MRI scans work all day with computer imaging, but are also in close proximity to enormous magnetic fields; it crossed my mind that their interpretations of the scans could therefore be impaired - based upon their own suppositions...

 

[FranzB]

As I understand things the report was written based on a small group of 14-21 year olds, whose brains were still very much developing, and presumably needed those MRI scans for 'other reasons' which might suggest a reason, other than computer use, which may have been grounds to believe the scan results may have been abnormal anyway.

One mustn't forget that the Radiographers making those MRI scans work all day with computer imaging, but are also in close proximity to enormous magnetic fields; it crossed my mind that their interpretations of the scans could therefore be impaired - based upon their own suppositions...

That could be the case but i doubt it. The "subjects" would have been chosen very carefully. Remember too, the authors' reputation would be at stake if ....etc. In that world you can shove it if you publish garbage.
The point is that the scans show the same phenomenon as the scans of drug addicts. My question marks would be whether cause and effect are not mixed up. But for that you'd have to take people who do not show the pattern on the scan (i.e. healthy people) and then get them addicted to drugs and scan again. Obviously that's out of the question. So it could be that the difference in the brain from what is found normally is the cause and not the effect of becoming (more easily) addicted to whatever. It is curious that the same pattern shows up for any addiction and that addiction can only be treated with great difficulty. It could be due to wrong "wiring" and try and change that!

 

[CreepinJesus]

I call it "a lust for knowledge," but it depends what sites you're on, I suppose...