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Updated: Dec 28, 2025
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Measuring the Switch Cost of Smartphone Use While Walking
Published on: April 30, 2020
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Structural and functional correlates of smartphone addiction.
Juliane Horvath1, Christina Mundinger1, Mike M Schmitgen1
1Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg University, Germany.
Addictive Behaviors
|February 17, 2020
Summary
Excessive smartphone use may lead to smartphone addiction (SPA), characterized by reduced gray matter volume in specific brain regions and lower neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex. These findings suggest potential structural and functional brain changes associated with SPA.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Behavioral Addiction
Background:
- Smartphone use has surged, raising concerns about potential negative impacts on physical and mental health.
- Smartphone addiction (SPA) describes addictive smartphone behavior and associated impairments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate structural and functional brain differences in individuals with SPA compared to controls.
- To explore the relationship between smartphone addiction severity and brain metrics.
Main Methods:
- Used 3 Tesla MRI to assess gray matter volume (GMV) and intrinsic neural activity (ALFF) in 22 individuals with SPA and 26 controls.
- Assessed SPA using the Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI).
- Employed voxel-based morphometry for GMV analysis.
Main Results:
- Individuals with SPA exhibited lower GMV in the left anterior insula, inferior temporal, and parahippocampal cortex.
- Reduced intrinsic neural activity was observed in the right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in SPA.
- Negative associations were found between SPAI scores and ACC volume/activity, and left orbitofrontal GMV.
Conclusions:
- This study presents the first evidence of distinct structural and functional brain correlates for smartphone addiction.
- The findings question the harmlessness of smartphones for individuals at risk of developing addictive behaviors.
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