Nacho Roura (@neuronacho), a psychologist specialized in neuroscience, who has been sharing insights on current topics from a neuroscientific perspective for the past five years, highlights that virtual social networks are platforms where people can share different experiences or products, but they also use persuasive technology. Many brands use them to sell their products, taking advantage of our psychological mechanisms to maximize the time we spend using these applications.
«Social networks are showcases for various products, including ourselves, and many brands try to attract potential buyers by leveraging mechanisms such as the reward system, which is influenced by ‘likes’, or the dynamics of sharing a post and allowing comments. These are mechanisms that make social networks so engaging,» he said in an interview with Europa Press Salud Infosalus after publishing ‘The Millennial Brain’ (Random Comics).
WE ARE ADDICTED TO SOCIAL NETWORKS
He admits that we are completely addicted to social networks, although he points out that it is currently impossible to know the consequences of their use because there are no longitudinal studies in the long term due to the recent nature of these applications.
He emphasizes the importance of understanding how social networks impact teenagers, as they are one of the first generations to be fully immersed in social networks, making it an «interesting» period from a psychological and cerebral perspective, as Nacho Roura states.
He reminds us that the prefrontal cortex is the set of regions in our brain that takes the longest to mature in our species, doing so around 22-25 years old. He says that it is responsible for complex cognitive functions such as attention or impulse control, as well as playing a role in emotional aspects, language, and symbolic thinking.
BEWARE OF ADOLESCENTS
It is well known that there can be problems arising from misuse of social networks, such as addiction or mental health issues. Furthermore, Roura emphasizes that we all have these reward mechanisms, as mentioned earlier, and they can affect us especially in adolescence: «Adolescents are more vulnerable to social networks because they are very sensitive to their motivation, but they do not have the brain mechanisms to delay these gratifications, making them more vulnerable to drug consumption.»
Regarding other potential consequences on the brain, this psychologist says we cannot know the long-term effects yet because, as he insists, there is a lack of longitudinal studies conducted over time. «The cognitive effects of sustained use of social networks are not known. In the short term, we know about attention, and simply blocking data on your phone and knowing that you are not connected to the internet can improve a person’s attention, productivity, and psychological complaints,» Nacho Roura continues.
THE EFFECT OF LIKES
He does emphasize, however, that «likes activate reward circuits», as we have discussed, but it is not known what happens in the long term due to the lack of longitudinal studies.
In his book, he indicates that the reward system is activated by stimuli that are inherently reinforcing, such as food or sex, known as ‘primary reinforcements’, but also by others to which we have associated reinforcing value, such as money, as he points out, or likes in the case of social networks.
«Receiving a ‘like’ activates reward circuits in our brain. It leads, on the one hand, to establishing certain bonds of attachment or connection with the identity and community on the social network, and the social feedback present in it, and can reduce the intensity of unpleasant moods, so that compulsive use can end up becoming a coping strategy in stressful situations,» he adds.
This psychologist also comments that, in his current doctoral thesis, our brain reacts very similarly to money, for example, or relevant social information, activating the reward circuit that includes the nucleus accumbens, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and the ventral tegmental area, a brain nucleus where dopamine is produced.
SOMETHING REWARDING
He mentions psychologist Lauren Sherman from Temple University in Philadelphia, who has been trying to answer the question of what happens with ‘likes’ in our brain, suggesting that this would be an example of a ‘secondary reinforcer’, as we have mentioned, which has acquired its reinforcing value through learning and experience, being associated with something inherently gratifying like acceptance from others, positive feedback from them.
Finally, he urges not to demonize social networks but insists that we should «avoid generalizations,» even though it may be difficult, because the benefits of social networks «are found by each individual based on what this use awakens in them.»
For example, he says that for some, it awakens feelings of affiliation, of group formation, as seen in patient associations, for example; whereas for others, it may not mean anything. We are social beings, and social networks provide social and emotional support that the group can offer. Furthermore, networks have sought to optimize communication, refining the transmission of emotions,» he asserts.