# Sex-specific neural responses to smartphone cues in young adults

## TL;DR

The study found that males and females have different brain responses to smartphone cues, which may explain why excessive smartphone use affects them differently.

## Contribution

The study reveals sex-specific neural mechanisms underlying smartphone cue reactivity and links them to behavioral and neurochemical differences.

## Key findings

- Males showed stronger brain activation in frontoparietal, thalamic, and sensory regions in response to smartphone cues.
- Females exhibited lower parietal cortex activity linked to higher smartphone use and related problems.
- Sex differences were observed in how neural activity correlates with smartphone use severity and sleep/craving behaviors.

## Abstract

Problematic smartphone use has been associated with altered reward and executive control network activity, yet potential sex differences in the underlying neural mechanisms remain insufficiently understood. We investigated sex-specific neural correlates of smartphone cue reactivity (CR) in 69 healthy young adult smartphone users (age range 18–30 years, female/male n = 45/24). Participants completed the Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI) and underwent functional MRI during a smartphone CR paradigm. In addition, resting-state data were acquired to ensure that neural differences between female and male participants could be attributed to the CR paradigm rather than to sex differences in intrinsic neural activity. Whole-brain analyses revealed stronger activation in males compared to females in response to the presentation of smartphone cues within the right middle frontal gyrus (MFG), thalamus, cortical sensorimotor, parietal and occipital regions, whereas females showed no suprathreshold clusters compared to males. No overlap with resting-state amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation maps was observed with CR results, confirming task specificity. In males, right MFG correlated positively with SPAI-I total score, craving, and sleep interference scores, while in females, right parietal cortex activity correlated negatively with SPAI-I total score, daily life interference, and craving. Complementary cross-modal analyses showed that CR-related activation patterns were associated with several cortical excitatory and inhibitory neuronal and cellular markers, revealing subtle sex differences. These findings suggest sex-specific frontoparietal mechanisms underlying smartphone CR and highlight neurochemical pathways potentially linking excessive smartphone use to differential motivational and cognitive control processes in males compared to females.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13293-026-00835-7.

Males showed stronger smartphone cue-reactivity across frontoparietal, thalamic, sensorimotor, and occipital regions compared with females.

Right middle frontal gyrus activation in males correlated positively with the extent of smartphone use, craving, and sleep interference.

In females, right parietal cortex activation correlated negatively with the smartphone use levels, craving, and daily life interference.

Cross-modal analyses pointed to shared excitatory and inhibitory neurochemical substrates, while revealing subtle sex-specific differences in how these neural markers relate to behavior.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13293-026-00835-7.

People use smartphones constantly, and for some individuals this can become difficult to control. One reason may be that certain smartphone-related cues, such as notifications or images of phones—trigger strong reactions in the brain. However, it is not well understood whether these reactions differ between females and males. In this study, we examined how the brains of 69 young adults respond to smartphone cues while lying in an MRI scanner. We also measured their usual smartphone use and collected resting-state brain data to make sure any differences we observed were truly related to the cue task.

We found clear sex differences. When viewing smartphone cues, males showed stronger activity in brain regions involved in attention, decision-making, sensory processing, and visual perception, particularly in a frontal brain area linked to control of behavior. In contrast, females did not show stronger activity than males in any brain region, but instead showed a different pattern: activity in a parietal region was lower in those with more problematic smartphone use. These brain responses were specific to the cue task and not present in resting-state data. We also examined how these patterns relate to underlying brain chemistry. The activation seen during cue reactivity was connected to several markers of excitatory and inhibitory neural signaling, with subtle differences between females and males. Overall, our findings suggest that males and females engage different brain mechanisms when reacting to smartphone cues, which may help explain why excessive smartphone use affects them differently. These insights may support future strategies tailored to sex-specific motivational and self-control processes.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13293-026-00835-7.