Unlocking the brain secrets of social media through neuroscience

Christian Montag; Laura Marciano; Peter J Schulz; Benjamin Becker

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2023.09.005

Unlocking the brain secrets of social media through neuroscience

Trends Cogn Sci. 2023 Dec;27(12):1102-1104. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.09.005. Epub 2023 Oct 13.

Authors

Christian Montag¹, Laura Marciano², Peter J Schulz³, Benjamin Becker⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany. Electronic address: mail@christianmontag.de.
² Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
³ Institute of Communication and Health, University of Lugano, Lugano, Switzerland; Department of Communication & Media, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: bbecker@hku.hk.

PMID: 37838613
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.09.005

Abstract

Neuroscientific buzzwords, such as 'brain hacks', have become commonplace when discussing social media (SM)-platform engineering. Despite societal debates, few studies have used neuroscientific approaches to validate the claims empirically. We call here for a transformative shift engaging scientists and other stakeholders to address this critical knowledge gap.

Keywords: MRI; addiction; brain-hack; design; dopamine triggers; neuroscience; social media.

MeSH terms

Brain
Humans
Neurosciences*
Social Media*

Grants and funding

P500PS_202974/SNSF_/Swiss National Science Foundation/Switzerland