CER | Prompt - Can social media be an addiction?

● What is addiction? How is it related to neuron/brain function?

Type Response Here:

Hello, I wasn’t sure whether we were supposed to actually name the activity when
referencing evidence from it so I wrote two versions. The first one is the one that doesn’t
have specific activities being named, the one that does have specific activities being
named is the second one :D -Alfie

First:
Social media can be an addiction. To understand how, it is first important to understand
addiction and what it does to brain function. Addiction is a condition where a person
uncontrollably repeats a behavior despite negative and harmful consequences. It is a
dysfunction of the brain as the reinforcement that the reward pathway of the brain provides
makes the brain prioritize the repetition of the behavior over the person’s wellbeing. In theory,
the reward pathway operates by releasing dopamine in response to actions that result in
survival needs being fulfilled. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, meaning that it is transmitted by
neurons. Neurons achieve this by receiving neurotransmitters via their dendrites where they
then cause electrical changes in the cell that the cell body interprets. If it is strong enough, that
signal is sent to the axon and then the axon terminals where it causes the release of
neurotransmitters. Those neurotransmitters travel to the synapse where they are passed to the
next cell and the cycle repeats.
With this understood, the fact that social media can be an addiction can be most efficiently
explained by comparing social media to drugs. Drugs are known to trigger the reward pathway.
When drugs are taken, they cause surges of neurotransmitters in the reward pathway that are
much greater than the amount produced in association with rewards like eating or creative
pursuits. Social media interacts with the brain in a very similar way. For example, A 2016 UCLA
study found significant activity in the reward pathway when teens saw photos they took
receiving a lot of likes. Also, a study of 20 college students found a positive correlation between
the level of facebook addiction demonstrated by a subject and activity in the reward pathway
while the subject interacted with facebook signals. The specific activation in the reward pathway
was the same seen in those with substance addiction. The fact that both drugs and social media
interact with the brain in this way means that a person can develop an addiction to social media
in the same way that people develop drug addictions: by dopamine reinforcing the action so
powerfully that the brain starts to crave it compulsively.
This said, there are differences between how drugs and social media interact with the brain as
drugs interact with neurotransmitters in the brain directly in a way that social media doesn’t.
When a person uses a drug, they are physically intaking specific chemicals that interact with
neurotransmitters in accordance with their chemical composition. For example, the chemicals in
marijuana have a composition similar to anandamide which allows them to bind to cannabinoid
receptors and do all of the things that anandamide does but for a much longer time. To
continue, LSD chemically resembles serotonin which allows it to elicit serotonin’s effects by
binding to serotonin receptors. This differs from social media because when a person uses
social media, there is no physical intake occuring nor are there any brain-affecting chemicals
being newly introduced to the brain. Every chemical change that occurs as a result of social
media is from chemicals that the brain produces itself. However, this does not mean that people
cannot become addicted to social media at all, because they can; that addiction just cannot be
chemical like drug addiction can be. This does not dispute the fact that social media can be as
well as often is psychologically addictive as previously proven.

Second:
Social media can be an addiction. To understand how, it is first important to understand
addiction and what it does to brain function. Addiction is a condition where a person
uncontrollably repeats a behavior despite negative and harmful consequences. It is a
dysfunction of the brain as the reinforcement that the reward pathway of the brain provides
makes the brain prioritize the repetition of the behavior over the person’s wellbeing. As taught
by the Mouse Party activity, the reward pathway theoretically operates by releasing the
neurotransmitter that is dopamine in response to actions that result in survival needs being
fulfilled. As taught by the Neurons Intro Activity, dopamine being a neurotransmitter means that
it is a chemical that is transmitted by neurons. Neurons achieve this by receiving
neurotransmitters via their dendrites where they then cause electrical changes in the cell that
the cell body interprets. If it is strong enough, that signal is sent to the axon and then the axon
terminals where it causes the release of neurotransmitters. Those neurotransmitters travel to
the synapse where they are passed to the next cell and the cycle repeats.
With this understood, the fact that social media can be an addiction can be most efficiently
explained by comparing social media to drugs. Drugs are known to trigger the reward pathway.
When drugs are taken, they cause surges of neurotransmitters in the reward pathway that are
much greater than the amount produced in association with rewards like eating or creative
pursuits. As taught by the Social Media Video and Discussion Post, Social media interacts with
the brain in a very similar way. For example, A 2016 UCLA study found significant activity in the
reward pathway when teens saw photos they took receiving a lot of likes. Also, a study of 20
college students found a positive correlation between the level of facebook addiction
demonstrated by a subject and activity in the reward pathway while the subject interacted with
facebook signals. The specific activation in the reward pathway was the same seen in those
with substance addiction. The fact that both drugs and social media interact with the brain in this
way means that a person can develop an addiction to social media in the same way that people
develop drug addictions: by dopamine reinforcing the action so powerfully that the brain starts to
crave it compulsively.
This said, there are differences between how drugs and social media interact with the brain as
drugs interact with neurotransmitters in the brain directly in a way that social media doesn’t.
As taught by the Mouse Party activity, when a person uses a drug, they are physically intaking
specific chemicals that interact with neurotransmitters in accordance with their chemical
composition. For example, the chemicals in marijuana have a composition similar to
anandamide which allows them to bind to cannabinoid receptors and do all of the things that
anandamide does but for a much longer time. To continue, LSD chemically resembles
serotonin which allows it to elicit serotonin’s effects by binding to serotonin receptors. This
differs from social media because when a person uses social media, there is no physical intake
occuring nor are there any brain-affecting chemicals being newly introduced to the brain. Every
chemical change that occurs as a result of social media is from chemicals that the brain
produces itself. However, this does not mean that people cannot become addicted to social
media at all, because they can; that addiction just cannot be chemical like drug addiction can
be. This does not dispute the fact that social media can be as well as often is psychologically
addictive as previously proven.