Reward-related neural activation during social media exposure in young women with non-suicidal self-injury: evidence for a continuum of severity in the reward network

Individuals with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) may be particularly vulnerable to social media exposure, yet the extent to which this vulnerability is linked to altered reward processing remains unclear. To address this gap, we investigated social media-related reward processing in NSSI by recruiti...

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Autores: Nicolaou, Stella, Julià, Anna, Otero, Daniela, Schmidt Gómez, Carlos, Pascual, Juan Carlos, Soler, Joaquim (Soler Ribaudi), Marco Pallarés, Josep, Vega Moreno, Daniel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/223137
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/223137
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Neurologia
Joves
Dones
Comportament autolesiu
Xarxes socials en línia
Neurology
Youth
Women
Self-injurious behavior
Online social networks
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spelling Reward-related neural activation during social media exposure in young women with non-suicidal self-injury: evidence for a continuum of severity in the reward networkNicolaou, StellaJulià, AnnaOtero, DanielaSchmidt Gómez, CarlosPascual, Juan CarlosSoler, Joaquim (Soler Ribaudi)Marco Pallarés, JosepVega Moreno, DanielNeurologiaJovesDonesComportament autolesiuXarxes socials en líniaNeurologyYouthWomenSelf-injurious behaviorOnline social networksIndividuals with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) may be particularly vulnerable to social media exposure, yet the extent to which this vulnerability is linked to altered reward processing remains unclear. To address this gap, we investigated social media-related reward processing in NSSI by recruiting ninety-one young women, divided into three groups: a clinical group (NSSI with borderline personality disorder), a subclinical group (NSSI without co-occurring disorders), and a healthy control group. While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), participants received positive and negative comments on their own Instagram photos in a naturalistic task simulating real-life social media interactions. Clinical participants rated positive comments as less pleasant and negative comments as more unpleasant than controls. Coherently, they showed blunted activation in core reward regions such as the nucleus accumbens, caudate, and medial frontal cortex when receiving positive vs negative feedback. Subclinical participants reacted similarly to clinical participants to negative feedback but similarly to controls to positive feedback and presented intermediate activation in most regions, bridging the pattern observed in controls and patients. Results highlight reward system dysfunction as central to NSSI pathology, with both clinical and subclinical groups showing altered processing of social media-based feedback. Subclinical participants showed selective vulnerability to negative feedback, while clinical participants showed impaired sensitivity to both positive and negative feedback. These findings reflect a continuum of severity mapped on the reward system, highlighting potential intervention targets and emphasizing the need to address social media interactions in NSSI treatment.Nature Publishing Group2025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2445/223137Articles publicats en revistes (Cognició, Desenvolupament i Psicologia de l'Educació)reponame:Dipòsit Digital de la UBinstname:Universidad de BarcelonaInglésReproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03536-8Translational Psychiatry, 2025, vol. 15, 308https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03536-8cc-by-nc-nd (c) Nicolaou, Stella et al., 2025http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/2231372026-05-27T06:46:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Reward-related neural activation during social media exposure in young women with non-suicidal self-injury: evidence for a continuum of severity in the reward network
title Reward-related neural activation during social media exposure in young women with non-suicidal self-injury: evidence for a continuum of severity in the reward network
spellingShingle Reward-related neural activation during social media exposure in young women with non-suicidal self-injury: evidence for a continuum of severity in the reward network
Nicolaou, Stella
Neurologia
Joves
Dones
Comportament autolesiu
Xarxes socials en línia
Neurology
Youth
Women
Self-injurious behavior
Online social networks
title_short Reward-related neural activation during social media exposure in young women with non-suicidal self-injury: evidence for a continuum of severity in the reward network
title_full Reward-related neural activation during social media exposure in young women with non-suicidal self-injury: evidence for a continuum of severity in the reward network
title_fullStr Reward-related neural activation during social media exposure in young women with non-suicidal self-injury: evidence for a continuum of severity in the reward network
title_full_unstemmed Reward-related neural activation during social media exposure in young women with non-suicidal self-injury: evidence for a continuum of severity in the reward network
title_sort Reward-related neural activation during social media exposure in young women with non-suicidal self-injury: evidence for a continuum of severity in the reward network
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Nicolaou, Stella
Julià, Anna
Otero, Daniela
Schmidt Gómez, Carlos
Pascual, Juan Carlos
Soler, Joaquim (Soler Ribaudi)
Marco Pallarés, Josep
Vega Moreno, Daniel
author Nicolaou, Stella
author_facet Nicolaou, Stella
Julià, Anna
Otero, Daniela
Schmidt Gómez, Carlos
Pascual, Juan Carlos
Soler, Joaquim (Soler Ribaudi)
Marco Pallarés, Josep
Vega Moreno, Daniel
author_role author
author2 Julià, Anna
Otero, Daniela
Schmidt Gómez, Carlos
Pascual, Juan Carlos
Soler, Joaquim (Soler Ribaudi)
Marco Pallarés, Josep
Vega Moreno, Daniel
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Neurologia
Joves
Dones
Comportament autolesiu
Xarxes socials en línia
Neurology
Youth
Women
Self-injurious behavior
Online social networks
topic Neurologia
Joves
Dones
Comportament autolesiu
Xarxes socials en línia
Neurology
Youth
Women
Self-injurious behavior
Online social networks
description Individuals with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) may be particularly vulnerable to social media exposure, yet the extent to which this vulnerability is linked to altered reward processing remains unclear. To address this gap, we investigated social media-related reward processing in NSSI by recruiting ninety-one young women, divided into three groups: a clinical group (NSSI with borderline personality disorder), a subclinical group (NSSI without co-occurring disorders), and a healthy control group. While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), participants received positive and negative comments on their own Instagram photos in a naturalistic task simulating real-life social media interactions. Clinical participants rated positive comments as less pleasant and negative comments as more unpleasant than controls. Coherently, they showed blunted activation in core reward regions such as the nucleus accumbens, caudate, and medial frontal cortex when receiving positive vs negative feedback. Subclinical participants reacted similarly to clinical participants to negative feedback but similarly to controls to positive feedback and presented intermediate activation in most regions, bridging the pattern observed in controls and patients. Results highlight reward system dysfunction as central to NSSI pathology, with both clinical and subclinical groups showing altered processing of social media-based feedback. Subclinical participants showed selective vulnerability to negative feedback, while clinical participants showed impaired sensitivity to both positive and negative feedback. These findings reflect a continuum of severity mapped on the reward system, highlighting potential intervention targets and emphasizing the need to address social media interactions in NSSI treatment.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/2445/223137
url https://hdl.handle.net/2445/223137
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Reproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03536-8
Translational Psychiatry, 2025, vol. 15, 308
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03536-8
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv cc-by-nc-nd (c) Nicolaou, Stella et al., 2025
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv cc-by-nc-nd (c) Nicolaou, Stella et al., 2025
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Nature Publishing Group
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Nature Publishing Group
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Articles publicats en revistes (Cognició, Desenvolupament i Psicologia de l'Educació)
reponame:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
instname:Universidad de Barcelona
instname_str Universidad de Barcelona
reponame_str Dipòsit Digital de la UB
collection Dipòsit Digital de la UB
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
_version_ 1869408992450576384
score 15,812429

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