Thoughit’s a psychologicaladdictionasopposedto a substanceaddiction, brainscansofthesepeopleactuallyshow a similarimpairmentofregionsthatthosewithdrugdependencehave.
Specifically, thereis a cleardegradationofwhitematterintheregionsthatcontrolemotionalprocessing, attentionanddecisionmaking.
Infact, studiesonrelationshipshavefoundthatpartnerstendtolikeeachothermoreiftheymeetforthefirsttimeonlineratherthanwith a face-to-faceinteraction.
Whetherit’s becausepeoplearemoreanonymousorperhapsmoreclearabouttheirfuturegoals, thereis a statisticalincreaseinsuccessfulpartnershipsthatstartedonline.