What goes behind new era addictions?

In 1972 the novelist Martin Caidin published “Cyborg”, a story depicting an astronaut who, after losing his arm, replaced it with a technological prosthetic that made him a notorious spy; fast forward 53 years and who knows if Martin ever knew that now cyborgs are everywhere: in the streets, in the stallers and in the mirrors. The smartphone, therefore, has become a behaviouralosthetic attached at the end of their arm, not (yet) able to execute mechanical activities, but making us re-consider social dynamics.

The attachment of young people to phones is concerning, as studies conducted on both French and US campuses found that uni students tend to spend 3.5 hours a day on their phones

In this article, we’ll discuss the addictive nature of social media and the general effect of dopamine

Addictions can be set by any activity that comes with a form of pleasure and “behavioural dependencies” are a branch of it. Examples of that can be impulsive shopping, binge eating, gambling and the use of social media too.

One core concept that lies behind every addiction is the “reward scheme”: the group of neural structures that originally generated reward from the physiological activities beneficial for survival .

The main players in this scheme are the neurotransmitters, of which the most notable is Dopamine: a neurotransmitter—one of the brain’s key chemical messengers—that shapes how we move, learn, and feel reward.

Biologically, dopamine is a catecholamine neurotransmitter synthesised from the amino acid tyrosine in dopaminergic neurons, primarily within the substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area, and hypothalamus. After release into the synaptic cleft, it binds to dopamine receptors (D1–D5) on postsynaptic neurons, modulating motor control, reward, and neuroendocrine functions.

The key role of dopamine in addiction is that it reinforces behaviours that anticipate pleasure or reduce discomfort; each surge acts like a signal of “pay attention, this matters”, and doesn’t release “pleasure feelings” per se, but reinforces activities that our brain considers vital for surviving.

We could consider it as the “natural instinct” that helped humans survive during the millions of years of our evolution, for which we naturally seek those behaviours that are beneficial for survival (such as eating and reproducing)

In a study conducted in 1998 at University of Michigan, a sample of mice without dopamine were took under observation; for the rest, these mice were biological the same as their peers for the rest of the features. After running some tests, it was seen that these dopamine-deficient mice only ate when food was put in their mouth, but didn’t bother eating if the food was only some centimeters away, even if they were in fact hungry.

In this scenario, we see that even if concious of their hunger, mice had an hard time to act upon it, and this behaviour circuit is really similar to people who are addicted: even if knowing the danger that comes with their action, their instinct is often time stronger and makes them still repeat those behaviours, increasing it as tolerance builds in order to reach the same “reward” level.

Unlike traditional addictions, the one we nurture through our phones is invisible yet constant: it doesn’t come from a substance but from the anticipation of connection, validation, and novelty. Each notification, each red dot, acts as a miniature reward, a promise of relevance that triggers our dopaminergic circuits. Research from the University of Chicago found that resisting the urge to check one’s smartphone produces more cognitive strain than resisting food or sleep, suggesting its potent grip on our self-control. In another 2019 study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, MRI scans showed that individuals with problematic smartphone use exhibit reduced grey-matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex — a region involved in impulse regulation and decision-making — mirroring neural patterns observed in substance addictions.

The smartphone, therefore, has become a behavioural laboratory in our pockets, perpetually tuning our neurochemistry toward expectation and reward.

Bibliography

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2020.564629/full