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Research from psychologists at the University of Kent suggests people's internet addiction is leading them increasingly to 'phub' -- and experience being 'phubbed' -- in social situations. This, in turn, leads them to view this phubbing behaviour as normal. The research, by Varoth Chotpitayasunondh and Professor Karen Douglas from the University's School of Psychology, identified a number of factors that were linked to smartphone addiction. These were internet addiction, a fear of missing out and a lack of self-control. This smartphone addiction, in turn, was directly linked to people demonstrating phubbing behaviour. The researchers further found that it was this experience of phubbing -- and of being phubbed themselves -- that made people more likely to think that phubbing was 'normal' behaviour. The research, thought to be the first to consider both the causes and consequences of this modern-day phenomena, is likely to lead to further investi...

Marijuana. Credit score: © laborec425 / Fotolia Power marijuana use disrupts the mind's pure reward processes, in accordance with researchers on the Heart for BrainHealth at The College of Texas at Dallas. In a paper revealed in  Human Mind Mapping , researchers demonstrated for the primary time with practical magnetic resonance imaging that long-term marijuana customers had extra mind exercise within the mesocorticolimbic -reward system when introduced with hashish cues than with pure reward cues. "This research reveals that marijuana disrupts the pure reward circuitry of the mind, making marijuana extremely salient to those that use it closely. In essence, these mind alterations may very well be a marker of transition from leisure marijuana use to problematic use," stated Dr. Francesca Filbey, director of Cognitive Neuroscience Analysis in Addictive Issues on the Heart for BrainHealth and affiliate professor within the Faculty of Behavioral and Mind Sc...