ReviewCureus2025
Social Media Algorithms and Teen Addiction: Neurophysiological Impact and Ethical Considerations.
Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed.
- Safety and Efficacy of Approved and Unapproved Peptide Therapies for Musculoskeletal Injuries and Athletic Performance.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- A scoping review of internet addiction and academic performance among health sciences students.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Evaluation of Wellby, a Cocreated Mobile App and Wearable to Support Stress Management and Overall Well-Being: Mixed Methods Acceptability and Usability Study.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- A tool to measure the influence of social media on health behaviors: an exploratory study.BDJ open · 2026Article
- Unfiltered Access, Unseen Harms: A Developmental and Public Health Critique of Digital Rights Discourse.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Review
- Depression and social media addiction among teenagers in a longitudinal study with dual moderation.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Regulating short-form video addiction: a three-tiered legal framework for the protection of Chinese minors.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- When daily activities become digitally curated: a perspective through the model of human occupation.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- The Impact of Digital Platform Rules on the Mental Health of Minors and the Response of Chinese Law: An Analysis Based on Therapeutic Jurisprudence.Psychology research and behavior management · 2026Review
- Psychological Needs and Problematic Social Media Use in Adolescents: A Gender-Moderated Mediation via Sensation Seeking and Cognitive Flexibility.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Development and Psychometric Validation of the Brain Rot Scale: Measuring Digital Content Overconsumption Among Generation Alpha and Generation Z.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025Article
- A Narrative Review of Digital Addiction and Health: A New Challenge for Modern Medicine.Cureus · 2025Review
- Association between mobile social networks usage and mental health and social behaviours in medical students in southern Iran.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- A Comparative Study of Short-Term Social Media Use with Face-to-Face Interaction in Adolescence.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Does it matter how many hours we spend scrolling through Instagram? This article examines the neurobiological impact of prolonged social media use, focusing on how it affects the brain's reward, attention, and emotional regulation systems. Frequent engagement with social media platforms alters dopamine pathways, a critical component in reward processing, fostering dependency analogous to substance addiction. Furthermore, changes in brain activity within the prefrontal cortex and amygdala suggest increased emotional sensitivity and compromised decision-making abilities. The role of artificial intelligence (AI) in this process is significant. AI-driven social media algorithms are designed solely to capture our attention for profit without prioritizing ethical concerns, personalizing content, and enhancing user engagement by continuously tailoring feeds to individual preferences. These adaptive algorithms are designed to maximize screen time, thereby deepening the activation of the brain's reward centers. This cycle of optimized content and heightened engagement accelerates the development of addictive behaviors. The interplay between altered brain physiology and AI-driven content optimization creates a feedback loop that promotes social media addiction among teenagers. This raises significant ethical concerns regarding privacy and the promotion of personalized content. This review article offers a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the neurophysiological impact of social media on adolescents and the moral concerns governing them. It also provides solutions for ethical social media use and preventing addiction among teenagers.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.