Research Suggest Web Addicts Brains Really Are Wired Differently

Researchers in China have been conducting research on a group of men and women ranging in age from 14-21. All 17 of the people in the study are classified as internet addicts. The researchers scanned their brains and looked for differences in the brain of the alleged addicts and those of normal people that aren't considered web addicts.

The hope is that finding differences between addicts and non-addicts brains might lead to better treatment methods. Special MRIs of the brain found that many had changed in the white matter of the brain. This is the part of the brain that contains the nerve fibers. The researchers claim that there was a change in the white matter of the brain between the addict and non-addict.

The researchers think that the changes in white matter may contribute to the addict's inability to stop an action and could have implications for other addiction disorders as well. The hope is that the new discovery might lead to treatments for the addicted.

[via BBC]