New neuroimaging research provides evidence that the frequency of checking social media during adolescent might influence how the brains of teenagers develop. The findings, published in JAMA Pediatrics, indicate the the use of social media is related to developmental changes in neural sensitivity to anticipation of social rewards and punishments.

“We were interested to see how young adolescents’ social media use behaviors may relate to the trajectory of their brain development over time,” said study author Kara A. Fox, a PhD student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“The constant availability of social media allows adolescents to access social rewards at any time they desire, and these rewards come in quantifiable, unprecedented forms such as likes and comments. We hypothesized that checking social media more often would be associated with increases in the brain’s sensitivity to social feedback.”

For their study, the researchers recruited a sample of 169 sixth- and seventh-grade students from three middle schools in North Carolina. The participants were first asked how many times per day they checked Facebook, Instagram, […]