Delay discounting mediates the association between posterior insular cortex volume and social media addiction symptoms
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Addiction-like symptoms in relation to excessive and compulsive social media use are common in the general population. Because they can lead to various adverse effects, there is a growing need to understand the brain systems and processes that are involved in potential social media addiction. We focus on the morphology of the posterior subdivision of the insular cortex (i.e., the insula), because it has been shown to be instrumental to supporting the maintenance of substance addictions and problematic behaviors. Assuming that social media addiction shares neural similarities with more established ones and consistent with evidence from the neuroeconomics domain, we further examine one possible reason for this association-namely that insular morphology influences one's delay discounting and that this delay discounting contributes to exaggerated preference for immediate social media rewards and consequent addiction-like symptoms. Based on voxel-based morphometry techniques applied to MRI scans of 32 social media users, we show that the gray matter volumes of the bilateral posterior insula are negatively associated with social media addiction symptoms. We further show that this association is mediated by delay discounting. This provides initial evidence that insular morphology can be associated with potential social media addiction, in part, through its contribution to poor foresight and impulsivity as captured by delay discounting.
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The association between social media addiction symptoms and GMVs of the bilateral posterior insula was mediated by delay discounting, indicating impulsivity.
“Social media addiction symptoms in social media users negatively correlated with Gray Matter Volumes (GMVs) of the bilateral posterior insula, and this association was mediated by delay discounting, indicating impulsivity ( 26 ).”
From Neurocognitive function among individuals with problematic social media use (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
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Brain structural covariation linked to screen media activity and externalizing behaviors in children
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The Psychobiology of Problematic Use of Social Media
Morris, R., Moretta, T., & Potenza, M. N. (2023) · Current Behavioral Neuroscience Reports · doi:10.1007/s40473-023-00261-8 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Manuel, A. L., Roquet, D., Landín-Romero, R., Kumfor, F., Ahmed, R. M., Hodges, J. R., & Piguet, O. (2020) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsaa085 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“5 insula (Turel et al., 2018) as well as temporal pole and temporoparietal junction (Pehlivanova et al.”
BackgroundWilmer, H. H., Hampton, W. H., Olino, T. M., Olson, I. R., & Chein, J. M. (2019) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsz024 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“In Hu et al. (2017) these abnormalities were observed across several midline pathways and the superior longitudinal fasciculus, while in He et al. (2018) these abnormalities were observed in the corpus callosum.”
The Effects of Social Feedback Through the “Like” Feature on Brain Activity: A Systematic Review
Dores, A. R., Peixoto, M., Fernandes, C., Marques, A. J., & Barbosa, F. (2025) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare13010089 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“Non-neuroimaging data corroborates the similarities between conditions, as evidenced by increased decay of the reward value over time (delay discounting) [69,70], or by problematic engagement possibly serving as a coping mechanism with adverse consequences [19,71].”
Li, G.-F., Chen, Y., Le, T. M., Zhornitsky, S., Wang, W., Dhingra, I., Zhang, S., Tang, X.-Y., & Li, C. (2021) · Drug and Alcohol Dependence · doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108731 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Wegmann, E., Müller, S. M., Trotzke, P., & Brand, M. (2021) · Journal of Behavioral Addictions · doi:10.1556/2006.2021.00036 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Bakhshipour-Rudsari, A., & Vazifehkhorani, A. K. (2021) · PubMed Central · doi:10.22122/ahj.v13i1.290 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Relationships among childhood experiences, happiness and social media addictions in adolescents
Demir, Y. (2021) · Educational Process International Journal · doi:10.22521/edupij.2021.101.2 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“Social media addiction is one of the most important recent issues, and has often been investigated by researchers (Balakrishnan & Griffiths, 2017; Demirci, 2019; Hawi & Samaha, 2018; Kuss, 2017; Turel et al., 2018).”
BackgroundPotential treatments of technology addiction: insights for information systems scholars
Ning, W., Turel, O., & Davis, F. D. (2024) · Internet Research · doi:10.1108/intr-12-2023-1122 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Ala, M., Nair, S., & Rasul, T. (2022) · Palgrave studies of marketing in emerging economies · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-07078-5_4 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
The relationship between disgust sensitivity and BMI: Is the food disgusting or am I?
Spinelli, S., Cunningham, C., Pierguidi, L., Dinnella, C., Monteleone, E., & White, T. L. (2021) · Food Quality and Preference · doi:10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104222 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Shah, Z., Chen, C., Sonnert, G., & Sadler, P. M. (2022) · Telematics and Informatics Reports · doi:10.1016/j.teler.2022.100040 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Teng, H., Zhu, L., Zhang, X., & Qiu, B. (2024) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs14080699 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“By using a cross-temporal choice task that has been shown to predict a variety of addictive behaviors [50], Turel and He [51] found that the use of problematic social networks was associated with a preference for immediate gratification, which may be related to differences in the morphology of the…”
Food-Specific Inhibitory Control Mediates the Effect of Disgust Sensitivity on Body Mass Index
Liu, X., Li, J., Turel, O., Chen, R., & He, Q. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02391 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Elton, A., Stanger, C., James, G. A., Ryan-Pettes, S. R., Budney, A. J., & Kilts, C. D. (2019) · NeuroImage Clinical · doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101968 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“The association of stronger connectivity among the posterior insula and superior temporal sulcus regions of IC8 with poorer intervention response in the current study is consistent with individual variation in the extent to which one's drug misuse decisions are biased by interoceptive (or perhaps social (Lahnakoski et…”
BackgroundThe Contributions of Social Comparison to Social Network Site AddictionPreprint
Kim, H., Schlicht, R., Schardt, M., & Florack, A. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/v3qmj · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Corcos, A., & Hodara, L. (2023) · SN Business & Economics · doi:10.1007/s43546-023-00501-9 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“The activation of the reward circuitry can even create a craving for social media, to the point where its use becomes more of an addiction than a voluntary choice (Andreassen 2015; D’Arienzo et al. 2019; He et al. 2017; Turel et al. 2018).”
BackgroundRiquelme, V. C., Lamilla-Cifuentes, Y. E., Araya-Fernández, M. E., & Martínez-Lecaros, B. N. (2023) · Propósitos y Representaciones · doi:10.20511/pyr2023.v11n2.1753 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Modern Day High: The Neurocognitive Impact of Social Media Usage
Satani, A., Satani, K. K., Barodia, P., & Joshi, H. (2025) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.87496 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Theisejans, J., Thomas, T. A., Oueslati, F. B. V., Kessling, A., Wegmann, E., Müller, A., & Brand, M. (2025) · Current Addiction Reports · doi:10.1007/s40429-025-00688-x · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Four reviews [37, 39, 40, 44] looked at a structural MRI study [61] whose results reveal a negative association between gray matter volumes in the bilateral posterior insula and PSNU symptom severity mediated by delay discounting.”
Cognitive functioning and social networking sites addiction – a review
Cudo, A., Misiuro, A., Kopiś-Posiej, N., Jaśkiewicz, M., & Misiuro, T. (2022) · Psychiatria Polska · doi:10.12740/pp/133147 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Takehana, A., Tanaka, D., Arai, M., Hattori, Y., Yoshimoto, T., Matsui, T., Sadato, N., Chikazoe, J., & Jimura, K. (2024) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhae302 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Silence between words: Is solitude important for relatedness?
Costa, R. M. (2024) · Progress in brain research · doi:10.1016/bs.pbr.2024.05.013 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
The sooner the better: clinical and neural correlates of impulsive choice in Tourette disorder
Atkinson-Clément, C., de Liege, A., Klein-Koerkamp, Y., Béranger, B., Valabrègue, R., Delorme, C., Roze, E. F., Fernández-Egea, E., Hartmann, A., Robbins, T. W., et al. (2021) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41398-021-01691-2 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Ibrahim, C., & Foll, B. L. (2023) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-823453-2.00005-9 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Bozkurt, H. Ö. (2020) · Turk Turizm Arastirmalari Dergisi · doi:10.26677/tr1010.2020.504 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
The influence of Facebook intrusion and task context on cognitive control
Cudo, A., Kopiś-Posiej, N., & Shchehelska, K. (2022) · Psychological Research · doi:10.1007/s00426-022-01670-2 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Additionally, previous studies (Delaney et al., 2018; Turel et al., 2018) demonstrated a positive relationship between Facebook addiction and impulsive decision-making using a delay discounting task.”
MethodAddictive-like Dimensions of Problematic Use of Social Media
Yuste, R., Baler, R., & Volkow, N. D. (2025) · Journal of Addiction Medicine · doi:10.1097/adm.0000000000001525 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Vaquero, L., Groves, K., Muñoz-Vidal, E. L., James, K., Marlor, J. L., McIntyre, C. W., Ostia, L., Сирота, С. А., Shields, L., Degé, F., et al. (2025) · European Journal of Psychotraumatology · doi:10.1080/20008066.2025.2550079 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“…reports focused on investigating SM or internet addiction, and their brain structural and functional findings support well-known theories of reward deficiency, enhanced impulsivity, and sensitivity for immediate rewards, among others (He et al., 2017, 2018; Montag et al., 2017; Turel et al., 2018).”
Analysis of correlating factors: Social media addiction in Shanghai's Generation Z
Yang, M., & Salman, A. (2024) · International Journal of ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES · doi:10.21833/ijaas.2024.01.016 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Khraishi, R., de Oliveira, C. I., Batra, D., Gostev, P., Pelosio, G., Okhrati, R., & Cowan, G. (2025) · neural information processing systems · doi:10.52202/085713-4179 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“By engaging users’ reward circuits more effectively than previous “infinite-scroll” platforms, hyper-personalized generative content could transform casual interactions into compulsive usage, maximizing time-on-platform at the expense of user well-being [7, 71].”
Mechanism of Rehabilitation through Physical Exercise for Adolescents Addicted to Social Media
Li, L. (2023) · Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences · doi:10.25236/ajhss.2023.061011 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Smartphone Pathology, Agency and Reward Processing
Kirby, B., Dapore, A. E., Ash, C. T., Malley, K. M., & West, R. (2020) · Lecture notes in information systems and organisation · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-60073-0_37 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Becker, B., & Montag, C. (2022) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/gh37e · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Trading on Social Trading Platforms
Tong, X., & Preda, A. (2025) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009428118.029 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
The relationship between delayed gratification ability and addiction and its neurological basis
He, W. (2025) · SHS Web of Conferences · doi:10.1051/shsconf/202522202014 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Neural Sensitivity to Social Media Use: Implications for Sleep Duration in Adolescents
Kiss, O., Zhang, L., Chaarani, B., Müller‐Oehring, E. M., & Baker, F. C. (2026) · Journal of Sleep Research · doi:10.1111/jsr.70325 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Turel et al. (2018) reported that the posterior insula's gray matter volume was negatively correlated with social media usage symptoms, mediated by delay discounting.”
Neurocognitive function among individuals with problematic social media use
Almog, I., Mama, Y., & Weinstein, A. M. (2026) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1825888 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Social media addiction symptoms in social media users negatively correlated with Gray Matter Volumes (GMVs) of the bilateral posterior insula, and this association was mediated by delay discounting, indicating impulsivity (26).”
The structural and functional changes of the insula in people with addiction
He, X., & He, Q. (2021) · Advances in Psychological Science · doi:10.3724/sp.j.1042.2021.01438
“…(Seeley et al., 2007)。 脑岛产生的感受状态决定了刺激的相对突显性 , 并按照优先顺序对刺激分配认知资源(Menon & Uddin, 2010; Uddin, 2015), 背外侧前额叶皮层(中 央执行网络)接收前脑岛的突显信息并进行相应 的处理, 以此来控制如注意和工作记忆等认知过 程(Menon & Uddin, 2010), 使我们注意并记住那 些与自我稳定和情感感受相关的突显事件(Chun & Turkbrowne, 2007; Dolan, 2002)。总之, 前脑岛从 广阔的感官刺激中识别突显信息, 并通过访问大…”
The dark side of information technology: The third time has its charm
Soror, A. A., & Turel, O. (2019)
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Das Smartphone als ständiger Begleiter
Kohler, S., & Fauth-Bühler, M. (2024) · Sucht : Zeitschrift für Wissenschaft und Praxis · doi:10.1024/0939-5911/a000876
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Digital Technologies and the Future of Financial Infrastructure
Westermeier, C., Campbell-Verduyn, M., & Brandl, B. (2025) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009428118.027
Sosyal Medyada Ekonomik Haberlerde Dezenformasyon: Nedenleri, Etkileri ve Mücadele Stratejileri
KOÇARSLAN, H., KILINÇ, E., GEDİK, A., & Soylu, S. (2025) · Uluslararası Yönetim Bilişim Sistemleri ve Bilgisayar Bilimleri Dergisi · doi:10.33461/uybisbbd.1822544
Zhang, F., Shao, Y., Jia, Z., & Wang, X. (2026) · Brain Research Bulletin · doi:10.1016/j.brainresbull.2026.111770
Music-induced emotion as controlled hallucination: an active interoceptive inference account
Tsai, C. (2026) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1759699
Szente, A. T., Perlaki, G., Orsi, G., Nagy, S. A., Arató, Á., Áfra, E., Alhour, H. A., Dudás, B., Janszky, J., Matuz, A., et al. (2026) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2026.e44874
Network analyses identify critical factors for facilitating future-oriented decision-making
Wu, H., Xue, Z., Xiao, X., Ma, J., Xiao, Z., Chen, K., Jiang, Y., & Guo, Y. (2026) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.cogpsych.2026.101815
- Authors
- Turel, O., He, Q., Brevers, D., & Bechara, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern California (US)
- Southwest University (CN)
- Université Libre de Bruxelles (BE)
- Corresponding author
- Turel, Ofir
- Venue
- Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience
- Published
- 2018-04-25
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 694-704
- ISSN
- 1530-7026 (ISSN-L)
- 1531-135X
- OpenAlex
- W2801050903
- Cited by
- 84
- References
- 63
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 4
- FWCI
- 23.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Digital Access to Libraries (submittedVersion)
- Dépôt institutionnel de l'Université libre de Bruxelles (Université Libre de Bruxelles) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Gambling Behavior and Treatments
- Keywords
- social media addiction, delay discounting, posterior insular cortex, gray matter volume, impulsivity, neuroeconomics, mediation, voxel-based morphometry
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Cerebral Cortex, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Organ Size, Behavior, Addictive, Young Adult, Social Media, Delay Discounting, Gray Matter
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