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Updated: Jun 9, 2026
Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Observing Virtual Social Interactions
Published on: July 6, 2011
Association between usage intensity of short video platforms and altered brain function: a resting-state functional
Siwei He1, Shixiong Tang2, Dayi Liu3
1Chongqing Shapingba Mental Health Center, Chongqing, China.
Background:
The potential negative influences of short video platforms (SVPs) usage on mental health have been attracting increasing attention in recent years. This study aimed to investigate the possible effects of SVP usage on brain functions using the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods.
Methods:
Resting-state fMRI data were acquired from a total of 55 young healthy adults. Based on self-reported daily usage time of SVPs, these participants were divided into a lower SVP usage (SVP-) group (< 1 h per day, n = 20) and a higher SVP usage (SVP+) group (≥1 h per day, n = 35). Between-group comparisons of functional brain measures were performed across multiple spatial levels.
Results:
At the single-edge level, the SVP + group showed significantly increased functional connectivity (FC) across many edges linking most major brain networks, including sensorimotor, visual, auditory, subcortical, default-mode, attention, and cingulo-opercular networks. Network-level analyses confirmed this widespread hyperconnectivity, with particularly robust increases within sensorimotor, auditory, subcortical, and cingulo-opercular networks after multiple comparisons correction. Voxel-wise analyses revealed higher fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) in the left precentral gyrus and lower fALFF in the right frontal lobe in the SVP + group. Global topological analysis indicated that the SVP + group had significantly higher global efficiency, local efficiency, and clustering coefficient, as well as lower characteristic path length, suggesting an altered network topology.
Conclusion:
This multi-level fMRI study suggests that a relatively higher-intensity SVP use is associated with an altered pattern of brain functional organization, characterized by widespread hyperconnectivity across most major brain networks, localized spontaneous activity alterations in sensorimotor regions, and an altered topology at the global level. These findings highlight the importance of considering potential impacts of SVP usage on brain functioning, and calls for future larger-sample and longitudinal studies to further understand such relationships.
