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Dopamine Desensitization Social Media

Meaning

Dopamine Desensitization Social Media describes the neurophysiological state where the chronic, supra-physiological stimulation of the brain’s reward pathways by the unpredictable reinforcement mechanisms inherent in social media platforms leads to a downregulation of dopamine receptors. This desensitization necessitates increasingly intense or frequent digital stimuli to achieve the same level of reward, clinically manifesting as reduced motivation for non-digital activities and a blunted emotional response to natural, slower-release dopamine stimuli. It represents a functional alteration in the neuroendocrine reward system.