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@article{185697,
        author = {YESHWINI SHARMA and SARA POTHEN},
        title = {Social Media and the Dopamine System: A Behavioral Neuroscience Perspective on Reward, Attention, and AddictionP},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2025},
        volume = {12},
        number = {5},
        pages = {2677-2687},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=185697},
        abstract = {The deep integration of social media into daily life has sparked widespread concern about its potential to foster problematic and addiction-like use. This review brings together current evidence from behavioral neuroscience to clarify the neurobiological and cognitive mechanisms that drive this phenomenon. We explore how social media platforms tap into the brain's mesolimbic dopamine system, a fundamental reward circuit, by providing powerful forms of social validation that serve as strong reinforcers. A key area of focus is platform design, especially the use of variable ratio reinforcement schedules, which operate like gambling systems and are highly effective in creating compulsive, lasting behaviors by maximizing dopamine release in states of uncertain anticipation. We review neuroimaging studies that show functional and structural changes in the brains of individuals with problematic social media use—including altered cue reactivity, reward processing, and gray matter volume in the prefrontal cortex, striatum, and amygdala—which bear a striking resemblance to those seen in substance use and gambling disorders. Additionally, we examine the cognitive outcomes, explaining how these neural alterations lead to attentional biases toward social media cues and weaken essential executive functions like inhibitory control and working memory. The review also outlines key vulnerability factors, such as the heightened neurodevelopmental sensitivity of the adolescent brain, certain personality traits, and new evidence of genetic predispositions. By positioning problematic social media use within established neuroscientific models of addiction, this paper highlights the critical need for more longitudinal research and the creation of evidence-based interventions and ethical design principles to lessen potential harm.},
        keywords = {social media addiction; dopamine; reward system; behavioral neuroscience; variable reinforcement; attentional bias},
        month = {October},
        }