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What can social media do to your brain?

The average person spends more than 3 hours a day on their phone, most of it on social media. While it may not seem harmful, studies show that repeatedly doing anything for long periods of time can cause physiological changes in the brain.

Heavy social media users perform worse on cognitive tests, especially those that test their attention and multitasking abilities. Besides, social media provides immediate rewards in the form of dopamine release, which often lead to addiction. Studies even show that the brain scans of heavy users look very similar to those addicted to drugs or gambling. Social media use is also linked with memory deficits. This is because when you store information elsewhere, your brain gets the message that it no longer needs to store it.

Social media has many positive aspects and it would be hard to stop using it. However, using it too much leads to long-term deficits in brain size and function.


Source: https://neurogrow.com/what-social-media-does-to-your-brain/


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  1. And yet, social media don't seem to be losing their appeal.

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