What is social media doing to our brains according to Dr. Sara Siavoshi

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – Dr. Sara Siavoshi, Neurologist at UCSD, joined Good Morning San Diego to discuss social media’s effects on the human brain and why people are on the platforms so often.

Dr. Siavoshi said “Social media may potentially interfere with children’s neurodevelopment. That the more kids over the age of 3 use the internet the more their language and verbal intelligence may be affected.”

Social media activates our rewards center which is what can cause addiction to it much in the way that recreational drugs can, according to Siavoshi.

The neurologist said social media can reduce our attention spans and reduce the ability to multitask saying “there have been studies showing that multitasking in teens is greatly affected by social media.”

In contrast, in older adults using the internet engaged more neuronal circuits in some studies and even showed some decrease in the rate of cognitive decline potentially leading to brain strengthing especially

She also said “social media can reduce our sleep and that social media can literally turn us into followers rather than leaders.”