False Equivalency Causes Moral Panic When It Comes To Youth & Technology : Two Case Studies
- The White Hatter
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Caveat - This article was inspired by two recent events. First, an online seminar we attended where the presenter displayed an image suggesting that cellphone use activates the same brain activity and biochemical addiction as drug use, without offering any citation or supporting source. Second, a social media post from an influencer claiming that a study found “heavy screen users had significantly reduced dopamine receptor activity, especially in the reward processing areas,” implying that smartphones are “literally rewiring children’s brains to feel numb to everyday life.”
Case Study #1
Recently we attended an online virtual seminar where a presenter displayed an image suggesting that cellphone use activates the same brain activity and biochemical addiction as drug use, without offering any citation or supporting source. Here’s the brain scan picture that was displayed in the presentation:
Note - This picture is actually a screen grab from a YouTube video that was posted 11 years ago, which had NOTHING to do with cellphones (1)
Parents and caregivers often hear claims that cellphones “light up the brain like heroin or cocaine.” This is something that we have both seen and heard before (2)(3) It’s an attention grabbing statement, but neuroscience tells a more balanced story. While some of the same reward pathways are activated, the effects are nowhere near as powerful or damaging as those seen in drug addiction, something the presenter did not elaborate on.
From a non-scientific perspective, functional MRI (fMRI) and PET scans let researchers watch the brain in action. When teens use social media or get a notification, certain areas of the brain, especially the nucleus accumbens (4) and ventral tegmental area (5), become more active. These are part of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway system that lights up whenever we feel pleasure or anticipation.
That’s why a scan of a teen checking Snapchat or TikTok might look similar to a scan of someone reacting to a drug. However, it’s important to know, the same areas also activate when we laugh, eat chocolate, or get a compliment.
Drugs like cocaine, heroin, and other opioids cause the brain to flood with dopamine at levels natural rewards can’t come close to matching. Over time, that flood damages the brain’s balance, reducing dopamine receptors and creating physical dependence, withdrawal, and tolerance.
Smartphone use triggers only a fraction of that dopamine response. (6) While heavy or problematic use can become a habit, it does not cause the same kind of structural brain damage or bio-chemical dependency seen in drug addiction as was put forward in the image that was shown in the presentation that the presenter was using to support their claim about cellphone addiction.
How Drugs Hijack the System
Cocaine, heroin, and other opioids don’t just stimulate the reward system, they chemically hijack it.
Cocaine prevents dopamine re-uptake, creating flooding of dopamine in the synapse.
Heroin indirectly causes massive dopamine release by inhibiting neurons that normally keep dopamine in check.
These drugs trigger dopamine surges that are 10 - 100 times stronger than natural rewards like food, social interaction, or technology use. They also bypass the brain’s normal regulatory pathways, forcing an artificial pleasure signal whether or not anything meaningful happened.
That’s why after chronic drug use, normal pleasures (music, relationships, food, etc.) feel flat, the system has been overstimulated and down regulated.
While social media engages the same reward network, it does not strongly activate some of the interoceptive and physiological reward systems that drugs do, such as:
Opioid System: Heroin and other opioids activate mu-opioid receptors in regions like the periaqueductal gray, amygdala, and VTA. This produces deep physical pleasure, pain relief, and a sense of calm. Social media does not directly stimulate this system. (7)
Endocannabinoid System: Some drugs (like cannabis) engage this network, which modulates mood and stress responses. Again, social media doesn’t directly tap into this chemical pathway. (8)
Physiological Reinforcement Systems: Drugs often engage autonomic and visceral feedback (changes in heart rate, respiration, body warmth), amplifying the full-body “rush.” Digital rewards, by contrast, remain primarily cognitive and anticipatory, they feel good, but they don’t flood the body with opioid-like euphoria. (9)
So, while the dopamine pathway is shared, the opioid and interoceptive reward systems (which underlie physical euphoria and pain relief) are unique to drugs like heroin and other narcotics and not to an electronic device like a cellphone or gaming console.
Think of the brain’s reward system like a stereo sound system:
Social media turns the volume knob up a few notches, enough to catch your attention and make you want to listen again.
Cocaine or heroin bypass the knob entirely and send a direct electrical surge into the amplifier, blowing the speakers.
Both produce sound (pleasure), but one is amplified beyond the system’s design. Over time, that damages the circuitry and lowers sensitivity to normal, healthy rewards.
The difference is like comparing a spark to a bonfire, the same system is involved, but the impact is vastly different. However, the presenter in the presentation we watched DID NOT make this differentiation. In the presentation they made it clear that in their opinion it was the same. As a wise person once said, “You are entitled to your own opinion, but not to your own facts.”, especially when those facts are not supported by the good evidence based research.
Modern brain imaging studies show some interesting differences in people who report “problematic smartphone use.” These findings don’t prove addiction, but they do show how technology can influence attention and emotion regulation. (10)
Think of a smartphone as a dopamine snack, not a dopamine flood. It can become habit forming, but it’s not hijacking the brain the way heroin, cocaine, or any other illicit drug does. The key is balance, teaching kids to recognize when they’re using their phones out of habit versus purpose. (11)
Brain scans show that smartphones activate the same pleasure circuits as other enjoyable experiences, but not at the same intensity or risk level as drugs. (12)
CASE #2:
Recently, a video came across our feed where the presenter stated:
“Get your children off their phone before their brains forget how to feel joy, because here’s the scary truth. Dopamine, which is a feel-good chemical, is released every time your child scrolls, every time they get a like, or they watch a short video. And over stimulation leads to dopamine desensitization, which means their brain meeds more and more to feel less and less. There was a 2022 study from the University of Vermont that found that heavy screen users had a significantly reduced dopamine receptor activity, especially in the reward processing areas. The translation of that is that your child’s phone is literally rewiring their brain to feel numb to everyday life”
If should be noted that this presenter did not provide an actual citation for this study.
We reached out to the creator of this clip by email to ask for a link to the study they referenced in his video. We did received an email back from this presenter’s staff stating:
"Thanks for reaching out about that! We’ll check directly with XXX to confirm the source he referenced in that podcast and see if we can locate the University of Vermont study he mentioned.
We’ll get back to you.
Warm regards,”
As of the time of writing this article (5 days later), we haven’t received a further reply with a link to the stated study. To be honest, that wasn’t surprising. After a thorough search, we couldn’t find a single peer-reviewed study from the University of Vermont published in 2022, or any nearby year, that supports the claim that “heavy screen users had significantly reduced dopamine receptor activity.” None!
The only University of Vermont study we found that came even close was titled ,“Dopamine sensitization by methamphetamine treatment prior to instrumental training delays the transition into habit in female rats.” (13)
This was an animal study (rats), not a human one, and it looked at how methamphetamine (METH), which affects dopamine systems, influenced how rats shifted from goal-directed to habitual behaviour. It had nothing to do with people or cellphone use.
To date, there’s no published University of Vermont study involving adults that directly measures dopamine function (such as through functional fMRI or PET scans) and connects it to heavy cellphone use. NONE!
As for the presenter’s statement that, “overstimulation leads to dopamine desensitization, which means the brain needs more and more to feel less and less,” because of cellphones, that claim doesn’t align with current neuroscience. According to Dr. Steven Quartz, a dopamine researcher we consulted last year on a similar comment made by another presenter, there isn’t much evidence that dopamine neurons themselves “adapt” in the way that this presenter suggested. (14)
Rather than fear the technology, let’s focus on understanding it. By helping parents, caregivers, youth, and teens, learn why they reach for their phones and how to manage their attention, we can teach them to use technology as a tool, not a trap.
There’s a growing wave of misinformation and psedu-science narratives about youth, dopamine, and cellphone use that simply isn’t accurate, yet it’s highly effective at fuelling moral panic and shaping false narratives about young people and technology (15). At The White Hatter, we’ll continue to challenge these claims and share credible, peer-reviewed, evidence-based information so parents and caregivers can make informed decisions about their children’s use of technology.
Digital Food For Thought
The White Hatter
Facts Not Fear, Facts Not Emotions, Enlighten Not Frighten, Know Tech Not No Tech
