Chinese Academy of Sciences' latest research shows that excessive internet can cause brain damage

A study by the Chinese Academy of Sciences concluded that, like heroin or alcohol, excessive indulging in Internet addiction harms the brains of young people. This discovery caused a sensation all over the world. A British psychologist claimed that the research results had a "breakthrough" meaning, but some people questioned whether Internet addiction was considered an illness.

A brain magnetic resonance scan of a teenager suffering from internet addiction found that the nerve fibers in the white matter of the brain are not as healthy as normal people. White matter is a component of the brain and spinal cord and serves as a bridge between the brain and other parts of the body.

Excessive Internet access can cause brain damage Prof. Lei Xi of the Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, recently said that although the degree of harm still needs to be quantified, the findings of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have shown that excessive Internet access is linked to brain damage. High-resolution brain images of patients with Internet addiction provide scientists with clues as to the location of brain damage and its mechanism of production. "Over-surfing seems to deplete myelin on nerve fibers," Thunder said.

His research team also found that white matter tissue damage was similar to other forms of addiction such as alcoholism, heroin dependence, or cocaine addiction. Related symptoms include diminished cognitive control that affects decision making.

This discovery soon caused a sensation in the international community. The British newspaper “The Independent” quoted Henrietta Jones, a psychiatrist at Imperial College London, as saying: “This type of research is groundbreaking, and it clearly defines the neuroimaging relationship between Internet addiction and other addiction symptoms such as alcohol and drug addiction. ."

However, Colin Truman, another psychology professor at King's College in London, believes that although people who use the Internet often do not have the same brain structure as those who don't use the Internet, they conclude that the Internet It will "rewrite" people's brains, and some are too jumpy.

Internet addiction is listed as a mental illness in China Yesterday, Tao Ran, director of the Internet Addiction Treatment Center of the General Hospital of the Beijing Military Region, said that the first “Diagnosis Standard for Internet Addiction” in China was approved by the Ministry of Health in November 2011, and the standard will definitely become Internet access. Addiction is included in the category of mental illness. China has thus become the first country to publish diagnostic criteria for Internet addiction.

Tao Ran said that Internet addiction first depends on whether the individual’s social function is lost. If the student’s social function is to study, if he is addicted to online games and skipping school, then he loses his social functions and can be judged as internet addiction.