{"id":10539,"date":"2025-12-18T11:18:48","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T07:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/?p=10539"},"modified":"2025-12-18T11:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T07:19:10","slug":"why-can-t-we-step-away-from-the-screen-what-neuroscience-tells-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/why-can-t-we-step-away-from-the-screen-what-neuroscience-tells-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Can\u2019t We Step Away from the Screen? What Neuroscience Tells Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

In today\u2019s world, time spent with digital screens is an inseparable part of the daily routine: intense gaming sessions, online shopping, compulsive searching for pornographic material, and hours spent scrolling through social media content. It is difficult to perceive this behavior as pathological because it is associated with pleasure, driven by the immediate release of dopamine in the body.<\/p>\n

However, for 7\u20139% of the global population, screen time is taking on signs of addiction. Problematic Use of the Internet (PUI) endangers an individual\u2019s health, career achievements, and interpersonal connections. Gambling disorder has already been accepted and officially integrated into the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). It is expected that this category will expand over time to include PUI as well.<\/p>\n

What drives some individuals toward this pathological behavior?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our brain\u2019s reward system\u2014which is evolutionarily designed for survival\u2014is currently “chasing” the pleasure derived from digital stimulation. Triggers, such as game advertisements, cause strong “craving,” which increases the probability of losing self-control, similar to substance dependence.<\/p>\n

Early studies mainly used obvious and direct stimuli; however, in real daily life, we are under constant pressure from subtle, less intense triggers. New research has confirmed that even device screens, where there is no direct pleasure-providing content, can provoke craving in individuals who are at risk of addiction. This finding has the potential to make it possible to identify the early phase of addiction by studying the brain\u2019s neuro-reactions.<\/p>\n

Study Details<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Researchers from the FOR2974 addiction research center in Germany conducted laboratory testing. The study initially involved 617 adults (final sample: 536 individuals, average age 26). For diagnostic accuracy, all participants underwent structured clinical interviews using the following instruments: AICA-SKI<\/a> (DSM-5 criteria adapted for PUI) and ACSID-11<\/a> (ICD-11 symptom assessment tool).<\/p>\n

Participants were grouped into three categories:<\/p>\n

Pathological Use (n=133): The group that met 5 or more diagnostic criteria and showed clinically significant impairment in functioning.<\/p>\n

At-Risk Use (n=135): This included individuals meeting 2 to 4 criteria, or more than 5 criteria without functional impairment.<\/p>\n

Non-Problematic Use (n=268): The control group.<\/p>\n

Focus: The study covered four main problematic areas: gaming, online shopping, pornography, and social networks. Participants identified their most frequently used digital devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops).<\/p>\n

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The British Journal of Psychiatry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The experimental stimuli were log-in\/start screen images\u2014target triggers (related to the individual’s primary addictive habit) and non-target triggers (related to other types of PUI).<\/p>\n

Assessment Indicators (following the images):<\/p>\n

Participants evaluated three primary parameters:<\/p>\n

Physiological Arousal: Measuring the level of physical activation or excitement.<\/p>\n

Subjective Urge: The immediate internal “push” or desire to engage in the behavior.<\/p>\n

Emotional Valence: The intrinsic attractiveness (positive) or aversiveness (negative) of the stimulus.<\/p>\n

Total Craving Intensity (CASBAS<\/a>): This was measured both before the start and after the conclusion of the experiment. Additionally, 501 participants were monitored over a 14-day period for a real-time assessment of “temptations” and actual digital consumption.<\/p>\n

Key Findings: Craving Starts from the Screens<\/strong><\/p>\n

Results at the Image Level: In the pathological use group, a significantly higher rate of physiological arousal was recorded for all types of stimuli, including neutral, non-target screens. This phenomenon proves that the mere presence of the device\u2014even without specific target content\u2014is sufficient to provoke a neurophysiological reaction. Such a generalized response indicates that the stimulus-response mechanism has moved beyond specific behavior and formed into a universal reaction characteristic of various problematic habits.<\/p>\n

Reaction to Target Stimuli: The study revealed a clear “hierarchy” between the subjects’ condition and their reactivity: the highest rates of craving and physiological arousal were recorded in the pathological use group, followed by the at-risk group with relatively lower intensity, and the control group with minimal rates. Interestingly, the most specific pattern regarding attention was found in the at-risk group, where the longest time of gaze fixation on the screen (attentional bias) was recorded.<\/p>\n

Connection to Real Life: The study showed that reactions recorded in laboratory conditions are not just momentary effects. On the contrary, an individual’s physiological arousal and craving intensity act as a predictive marker of their behavior. Specifically, the more intense the subject’s reaction to screen stimuli, the more frequently they became victims of digital “temptation” during the following two weeks and the more time they spent with devices (statistically confirmed correlation coefficients: r<\/span>\u2265<\/span><\/span>0.396<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> for “temptation” and r<\/span>\u2265<\/span><\/span>0.122<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> for usage time).<\/p>\n

What drives these pathological reactions?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The study results are in full alignment with the Incentive-Sensitization Theory. When a person repeats the same “digital habit” for years, their brain\u2019s reward system becomes hypersensitive to every small signal (for example, the sound of a notification or the light of a screen). Due to this hypersensitization, the reaction to the stimulus is so powerful that craving peaks and effectively blocks the prefrontal cortex\u2014the part of the brain responsible for logical thinking and impulse inhibition. As a result, the person no longer has the strength to willfully refuse the habit, because the brain\u2019s biological drive turns out to be much stronger than their conscious self-control.<\/p>\n

Generalization: Pathological users react to the screen of any digital device. This phenomenon resembles how smokers feel a craving at the sight of a lit cigarette.<\/p>\n

Shift in Craving Components: In the pathological group, dimensions such as “relief” (escaping stress) and “urgency” increase significantly. This dynamic reflects the transition from simple “liking” to compulsive “wanting,” a clear marker of chronic addiction.<\/p>\n

Advantages and Limitations<\/strong><\/p>\n

The study is cross-sectional, making it impossible to establish cause-and-effect relationships. The sample consisted only of adults, and factors like mood or abstinence status were not checked.<\/p>\n

It relies on clinically diagnosed samples, includes multimodal measurements (subjective and physiological), and establishes 14-day validity (direct connection to real life).<\/p>\n

This study explains why digital screens are so attractive. In the future, research should expand to adolescents and integrate neuroimaging methods to study differences between devices (e.g., the constant availability of a smartphone vs. a laptop).<\/p>\n

Source: The British Journal of Psychiatry<\/a><\/p>\n



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