智能手機成癮與大腦結構變化有關

智能手機成癮與大腦結構變化有關

If you spend your days chasing "likes" with your head buried in your smartphone, your brain structure might be subtly different from those who keep their tech use to a minimum.

如果你整天埋頭于智能手機，追逐“贊”，那么你的大腦結構可能與那些盡量少使用科技產(chǎn)品的人略有不同。

Researchers from Heidelberg University in Germany have found that “smartphone addiction” is linked to lower amounts of gray matter in certain parts of the brain, including the insula and temporal cortex. People with dysfunctional smartphone use also showed reduced activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region implicated in a broad range of behaviors and cognitive processes.

德國海德堡大學(Heidelberg University)的研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，“智能手機成癮”與大腦某些部位(包括腦島和顳葉皮層)灰質(zhì)含量較低有關。使用智能手機功能障礙的人前扣帶皮層的活動也減少了，這一區(qū)域涉及了廣泛的行為和認知過程。

The insula is a small region found deep within the brain that’s associated with self-awareness, interoception, pain processing, and addiction, while the temporal cortex is associated with auditory language and speech comprehension.

腦島是在大腦深處發(fā)現(xiàn)的一個小區(qū)域，與自我意識、感覺、疼痛處理和成癮有關，而顳葉皮層與聽覺語言和語言理解有關。

“Given their widespread use and increasing popularity, the present study questions the harmlessness of smartphones, at least in individuals that may be at increased risk for developing smartphone-related addictive behaviors,” write the researchers in the journal Addictive Behaviors.

研究人員在《上癮行為》雜志上寫道:“鑒于智能手機的廣泛使用和日益普及，目前的研究對智能手機的無害性提出了質(zhì)疑，至少對那些可能存在與智能手機相關的上癮行為風險增加的人來說是這樣。”

Tom Hale

For this study, the team carried out MRI brain scans on 22 people with “smartphone addiction” and 26 people without the condition. All participants were assessed using the Smartphone Addiction Scale developed in 2015. They were also all right-handed, between the ages of 18 and 30, and had no history of neurological diseases, severe medical conditions, or current mental disorders. The brain scans specifically looked to detect differences in gray matter volume in those with “smartphone addiction” and those without.

在這項研究中，研究小組對22名“智能手機成癮者”和26名非智能手機成癮者進行了核磁共振腦部掃描。所有參與者都使用2015年開發(fā)的智能手機成癮量表進行評估。他們也都是右撇子，年齡在18到30歲之間，沒有神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)疾病的歷史，沒有嚴重的醫(yī)療條件，或目前的精神障礙。這些腦部掃描專門用來檢測“智能手機成癮”者和非“智能手機成癮”者大腦灰質(zhì)體積的差異。

However, it’s unclear whether this is a matter of cause or correlation. For example, it’s either possible the changes in the brain arose because of the participants' smartphone use or the different gray matter volumes made them more predisposed to heavy smartphone use. The study authors also note that they "cannot fully rule out the possibility of other mental health conditions that may have an impact" on their findings.

然而，這究竟是因果關系還是相互關系還不清楚。例如，大腦的變化可能是由于參與者使用智能手機引起的，或者是不同的灰質(zhì)體積使他們更傾向于大量使用智能手機。該研究的作者還指出，他們“不能完全排除其他可能對他們的研究結果產(chǎn)生影響的心理健康狀況的可能性”。

“Smartphone addiction” is a controversial label with some researchers and clinicians preferring the terms problematic smartphone use or smartphone overuse. After all, it’s fair to say that many people in the 21st century use their smartphones for much of their work, play, and everyday life. The average person in the US spends around 5.4 hours a day on their phone, while millennials in the US spend up to 5.7 hours, according to one analysis by a smartphone provider. However, it’s tricky to pinpoint when this use becomes problematic.

“智能手機成癮”是一個有爭議的標簽，一些研究人員和臨床醫(yī)生更傾向于使用有問題的智能手機或過度使用智能手機。畢竟，公平地說，21世紀的許多人在工作、娛樂和日常生活中都使用智能手機。一家智能手機供應商的分析顯示，美國人平均每天花在手機上的時間約為5.4個小時，而美國千禧一代每天花在手機上的時間最多為5.7個小時。然而，很難確定這種用法何時會出現(xiàn)問題。

Either way, an increasing mound of evidence is showing that smartphones and social media are undoubtedly having an effect on our behavior and our brains.

不管怎樣，越來越多的證據(jù)表明，智能手機和社交媒體無疑正在對我們的行為和大腦產(chǎn)生影響。