Internet Addiction's Impact On Teen Brains

Researchers in China who examined the brain scans of 18 teens diagnosed with Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) with those of 18 non-addicted teens found differences in white matter density in over 20 brain zones. A report on their studies was released online in the 11 January issue of PLoS ONE.

All the contributors had a brain scan from which the analysts assessed the density and composition of the white matter. White matter consists of fibers that carry the signals various parts of the brain use to communicate with each another.

The scientists, who came from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other research centers in China, also examined a range of behavioral features such as addiction, anxiety, emotional disorder, social relationships, family functioning and time management and compared the results from the group recognized with IAD with the non-IAD group.

They observed the contributors in the IAD group performed less well in some of the behavioral examination, includings an supplemental measure of addiction, a questionnaire that assesses emotional conduct and problems in relationships, and a measure that screens for anxiety-relevant psychological disorders.

Also, when the research workers compared brain zones they observed to be different between the groups with the results of their behavioral examination, they noticed that even worse (ie less "healthy") scores on two of the behavioral measures were linked to lower white matter density in two specific brain zones.

The researchers conclude that their studies show IAD is "characterised by impairment of white matter fibres joining brain regions engaged in emotional generation and digesting, executive consideration, choice making and cognitive control".

At this level we might wrongly assume that because the scientists identified a link between IAD and brain changes, that it was the former that led to the latter.

However, we should keep in mind that this is a a cross-sectional research: the researchers had taken a "snapshot" at one point in time. They did not follow the contributors over a period and they did not identify what their brain structures were like before they became "addicted" to the internet. So we don't know if the brain changes were already present beforehand and so we can't rule out whether they led to or contributed to the addiction.

There are two other factors to be careful about interpreting these results:

First of all, the number of contributors is modest, and while the results may show "statistical significance", we should possibly regard them as tentative.

Secondly, internet addiction is a rather new disorder, and while more research are appearing using the term, it is not clearly described and globally recognized. For instance it is not bundled in the current edition of the "bible" of psychological disorders, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).

Nevertheless, assessing from the reactions of other experts interviewed by the media this week, it seems the findings are intriguing enough to warrant further investigation, using larger groups, and comparing for example, contributors with IAD with daily internet users who do not have IAD.

Cofee May Protect Oral Cancer

Hefty coffee drinkers -- those who drink much more than 4 cups per day -- may cut their threat of death from cancers of the mouth and throat by nearly half, based to new research.

Those who reported drinking at least 4 cups a day of caffeinated coffee suffered about half the risk of death from mouth and throat cancers in comparison to people who did not drink caffeinated coffee daily or only drank it sometimes.

That link kept even when the scientists took into account smoking habits and alcohol intake.

Intake of smoking and alcohol are among the most powerful risk factors for oral cancers.

The scientists can't be certain in this study whether the coffee reduced the risk of getting the cancers or improved the odds of surviving once cancer occurred. The study only looked at deaths, not the diagnosis.

We're not advising people start to drink coffee or that people increase their coffee [intake] for cancer protection, Much more epidemiological and scientific and clinical proof would be required to support such a suggestions."

Salt May Cause Obesity In Children

The scientists did not count salt added at the table or used in cooking when determining how much the children ate. “It is likely that the amount of salt reported in this paper is an underestimation of the true intake of salt,” Grimes says.

“It is hard to speculate” how the extra salt would have motivated the link with sugar-sweetened refreshments, she says.

If eating salty foods leads to children to drink more sugary drinks can’t be identified from her study, Grimes says. “It is possible that the association may in part be due to a clustering of unhealthy dietary behaviors.” People who choose salty snacks over more nutritious choices might also be more likely to prefer soda to water. After all, people generally order fries with their Coke, and vice versa.

But, Grimes says, the notion that eating more salt increases children’s thirst for sugary drinks “is definitely possible,” based on studies in adults and animals.

“One of the reasons bars provide free salted nuts, snacks, and popcorn is that they know that eating these foods makes people thirsty, and they will buy more drinks,” she says.

In Grimes’ study, 62% of contributors reported drinking sugar-sweetened beverages, noticeably lower than the 80% observed in studies of U.S. children.

Barry Popkin, PhD, a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, says Australian kids may not drink as much soda or sports drinks, but they make up for it by taking fruit juice and are just as likely to be obese as their U.S. peers.

One weakness in Grimes’ study was that fruit juice, which has the same impact as drinks with added sugar, wasn’t provided when grow tallying up children’s drinking of sugary beverages, Popkin says.