Study: Sleep, social media and teen brain activity linked

New research to be presented at the SLEEP 2024 annual meeting finds a clear relationship between sleep duration, social media use, and brain activation in various areas key to executive control and reward processing.

The results show a correlation between shorter sleep duration and greater social media use among teens. The analysis suggests the involvement of regions within the frontolimbic regions of the brain, such as the inferior and middle frontal gyri, in these relationships. The inferior frontal gyrus, key to the control of inhibition, may play a critical role in how adolescents regulate their interactions with stimulating stimuli such as social media. The middle frontal gyrus, involved in executive functions and critical for evaluating and responding to rewards, is needed to guide decisions related to balancing immediate rewards from social media with other priorities, such as sleep. These findings suggest complex interactions between specific brain regions during adolescence and their influence on behavior and sleep in the context of digital media use.

"As these young brains undergo significant changes, our findings suggest that poor sleep and high social media engagement may potentially alter sensitivity to neural rewards," said Orsolya Kiss, a doctoral candidate in cognitive psychology and a postdoctoral fellow at SRI International in Menlo Park., California. "This complex interaction shows that both digital engagement and sleep quality significantly influence brain activity, with clear implications for adolescent brain development."

The study used data from 6,516 adolescents aged 10 to 14 years from the Study of Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development. Sleep duration was assessed using the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire, and social media use for entertainment was assessed through a screen time survey among adolescents. Brain activity was analyzed using functional MRI scans during a monetary stimulus delay task targeting areas associated with reward processing. The study used three different sets of models, and the predictors and results varied each time. Results were adjusted for age, timing of the COVID-19 pandemic, and sociodemographic characteristics.

Kiss noted that these findings provide new evidence about how two significant aspects of modern adolescent life—social media use and sleep duration—interact to influence brain development.

"Understanding the specific brain regions involved in these interactions helps us identify the potential risks and benefits associated with digital engagement and sleep habits. This knowledge is especially important as it can guide the development of more precise, evidence-based interventions targeting to promote healthier habits." - Orsolya Kiss, Research Fellow, SRI International

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that teens ages 13 to 18 get 8 to 10 hours of sleep regularly. AASM also encourages teens to disconnect from all electronic devices at least 30 minutes to an hour before bed.

The study results were published in Sleep magazine.