3 Likes on a profile picture, what a rush!
Believe it or not, people have become addicted to Facebook in the same way that others become addicted gambling, alcohol and Pringles.
A new study conducted by California State University has found that incessant scrolling and attention to notifications affects our brain in the same way as taking cocaine does.
Students were asked to press a button when they saw a Facebook-related image on the screen, and those who hit the button the fastest also scored highly in the addiction test taken earlier on.
According to The Telegraph, researchers found the Facebook images activated the amygdala, which helps establish the significance of events and emotions, and the striatum, which is the part of the brain known as ‘the reward centre.’ This is a similar neurological effect to cocaine.
Some even pressed the button quicker for Facebook notifications than for road signs, suggesting the preoccupation messes with the reward centre of the brain…
However, the impulsive systems returned to normal when the experiment was not being conducted – which wouldn’t be the case for drug addicts.
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