A GENERATION of children risk forming an addiction to devices such as smartphones, games consoles and televisions in the way drinkers and drug users become dependent on substances.
Dr Aric Sigman, a clinical biologist and psychologist, said heavy users of "screen media" could see long-term changes in the brain due to excessive production of the chemical transmitter dopamine.
Dopamine is central to the brain's reward system and released in response to novelty and stimulation. Production is known to rise quickly when playing computer games or watching fast-paced pop videos but the chemical is also heavily linked to addictions and accelerated by drugs, including cocaine and methamphetamine.
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