ArticleJournal of behavioral addictions2021
Caudate nucleus volume mediates the link between glutamatergic neurotransmission and problematic smartphone use in youth.
Article in Journal of behavioral addictions, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Structural and Functional Neural Correlates in Individuals with Excessive Smartphone Use: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- The Impact of Digital Platform Rules on the Mental Health of Minors and the Response of Chinese Law: An Analysis Based on Therapeutic Jurisprudence.Psychology research and behavior management · 2026Review
- Neural Correlates of Personality Traits in Adolescents Exhibiting Excessive Smartphone Use: A Resting-State FMRI Study.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- A Narrative Review of Digital Addiction and Health: A New Challenge for Modern Medicine.Cureus · 2025Review
- Exploring the trajectories of problematic smartphone use in adolescence: Insights from a longitudinal study.The British journal of developmental psychology · 2025Article
- Monosodium Glutamate Treatment Elevates the Immunoreactivity of GFAP and S100β in Caudate Nucleus of the Striatum in Rats.Biomedicines · 2024Article
- Subjective well-being can be predicted by caudate volume and promotion focus.Brain structure & function · 2024Article
- Unveiling the grip of mobile phone addiction: an in-depth review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Review
- The Effects of Digital Addiction on Brain Function and Structure of Children and Adolescents: A Scoping Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- High intensity interval training exercise increases dopamine D2 levels and modulates brain dopamine signaling.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Neuroimaging the effects of smartphone (over-)use on brain function and structure-a review on the current state of MRI-based findings and a roadmap for future research.Psychoradiology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsProblematic smartphone use (PSU) is growing rapidly among teens. It has similar presentations as other behavioral addictions in terms of excessive use, impulse control problems, and negative consequences. However, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain undiscovered. We hypothesized that structural changes in the striatum might serve as an important link between alteration in glutamate signaling and development of PSU.
methodsAmong 88 participants, twenty (F:M, 12:8; age 16.2 ± 1.1) reported high scores in the smartphone addiction proneness scale (SAPS) with a cut-off score of 42; the other 68 (F:M, 19:49; age 15.3 ± 1.7) comprised the control group. Sociodemographic data and depression, anxiety, and impulsivity traits were measured. Striatal volumes (caudate, putamen, and nucleus accumbens) were estimated from T1 imaging data. Serum glutamate levels were estimated from peripheral blood samples. Group comparisons of each data were performed after controlling for age and gender. Mediation analyses were conducted to test the indirect effects of glutamate level alteration on PSU through striatal volumetric alteration.
resultsThe PSU group showed a decrease in both caudate volumes than the control group. Left caudate volume was positively correlated with serum glutamate level, and negatively with impulsivity traits and SAPS scores. The mediation model revealed a significant indirect effect of serum glutamate on SAS scores through the reduced left caudate volume. DISCUSSION AND
conclusionsThis study suggests that altered glutamatergic neurotransmission may be associated with PSU among teens, possibly through reduced left caudate volume. Current findings might support neural mechanisms of smartphone addiction.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.