People who are online more may struggle with relationships, brain study finds

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. People should consider setting limits for how much time they spend online each day, academics have said, after the study found that internet addiction may have detrimental effects on the brains of youngsters. open image in gallery A number of regions of the brain appeared to be affected by internet addiction Lead author Max Chang said: “Adolescence is a crucial developmental stage during which people go through significant changes in their biology, cognition and personalities. “For example, they may struggle to maintain relationships and social activities, lie about online activity and experience irregular eating and disrupted sleep.” Senior author Irene Lee added: “There is no doubt that the internet has certain advantages. “We would advise that young people enforce sensible time limits for their daily internet usage and ensure that they are aware of the psychological and social implications of spending too much time online.” The authors point out that their study only looked at a small number of people, primarily from Asian countries and they called for more research with different populations.