ArticleFrontiers in psychology2020
Cue-Reactivity Among Young Adults With Problematic Instagram Use in Response to Instagram-Themed Risky Behavior Cues: A Pilot fMRI Study.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neural mechanisms of behavioral addiction: An ALE meta-analysis and MACM analysis.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2025Pooled it
- Structural and Functional Neural Correlates in Individuals with Excessive Smartphone Use: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Physical exercise moderates the mediating effect of sleep quality between internet addiction and college students' academic burnout.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Inhibitory control and stress biomarkers in response to social media stimuli: a Go/No-Go study using heart rate variability, alpha-amylase and oxytocin.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Cognitive and Spontaneous Brain Activity in Nonaddictive Smartphone Users Among Older Adults in China: Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Online harms: Problematic technology use is a public health concern and requires a multistakeholder approach.Addictive behaviors reports · 2025Review
- A longitudinal study on the effect of aerobic exercise intervention on the inhibitory control in college students with internet addiction.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Article
- Attentional bias to social media stimuli is moderated by fear of missing out among problematic social media users.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2024Article
- A Systematic Review of Structural and Functional MRI Studies Investigating Social Networking Site Use.Brain sciences · 2023Review
- Neuroimaging the effects of smartphone (over-)use on brain function and structure-a review on the current state of MRI-based findings and a roadmap for future research.Psychoradiology · 2023Review
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12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundProblematic Instagram use (PIGU), a specific type of internet addiction, is prevalent among adolescents and young adults. In certain instances, Instagram acts as a platform for exhibiting photos of risk-taking behavior that the subjects with PIGU upload to gain likes as a surrogate for gaining peer acceptance and popularity.
aimsThe primary objective was to evaluate whether addiction-specific cues compared with neutral cues, i.e., negative emotional valence cues vs. positive emotional valence cues, would elicit activation of the dopaminergic reward network (i.e., precuneus, nucleus accumbens, and amygdala) and consecutive deactivation of the executive control network [i.e., medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC)], in the PIGU subjects.
methodAn fMRI cue-induced reactivity study was performed using negative emotional valence, positive emotional valence, and truly neutral cues, using Instagram themes. Thirty subjects were divided into PIGU and healthy control (HC) groups, based on a set of diagnostic criteria using behavioral tests, including the Modified Instagram Addiction Test (IGAT), to assess the severity of PIGU. In-scanner recordings of the subjects' responses to the images and regional activity of the neural addiction pathways were recorded.
resultsNegative emotional valence > positive emotional valence cues elicited increased activations in the precuneus in the PIGU group. A negative and moderate correlation was observed between PSC at the right mPFC with the IGAT scores of the PIGU subjects when corrected for multiple comparisons [
conclusionAddiction-specific Instagram-themed cues identify the neurobiological underpinnings of Instagram addiction. Activations of the dopaminergic reward system and deactivation of the executive control network indicate converging neuropathological pathways between Instagram addiction and other types of addictions.
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