محمد اژدرلو

Human society faces new challenges, especially the ones damaging the human brain and cognition. The addictive use of cyberspace essentially causes these challenges. This study was a comparative descriptive-analytical study conducted to diagnose cognitive impairments of cyber addiction through a QEEG test and to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive intervention on the cognitive functions involved in the mental imagery of adolescents. The statistical population of the study included 9-12 year-old students who visited Mehraz Andisheh clinic in Shiraz. The available sampling method was used and 40 people with research conditions (including 20 girls and 20 boys) were randomly assigned to two control and experimental groups. This research was conducted in 2023. The study used a mobile-based social network addiction diagnosis questionnaire (Ahmadi et al.; 2015), software (RehaCom et al., IVA-2, Neuroguide), an EEG device, and Kim Carrad visual memory test. After being selected and called to the place of research, people who had the conditions to enter the study first completed the consent form. Then, the  EEG recording was conducted for 5 minutes with eyes open and closed. Also, as a pre-test, they performed a visual attention test (IVA-2) for visual memory (Kim Carrad test) and a visual processing test (Captain Log). Then, for ten sessions, the participants in the experimental group received cognitive rehabilitation by RehaCom software, each lasting for 45 minutes with an interval of one day. After the completion of the treatment sessions, the evaluations were repeated. In this research data analysis was done using SPSS software 26 and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The study findings showed that the cognitive intervention led to a significant difference at the 0.05 level in the pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental group while there was no significant difference between the pre-test and the post-test in the control group. Based on the results, it can be seen that the intervention led to a difference in the pre-test and post-test and a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test groups in the experimental group at the 0.05 level. The study results also showed a significant relationship between the cognitive impairments of cyber addiction and brain wave patterns. These results emphasize that brain signals may be used as an indicator to diagnose cognitive impairment in people with cyber addiction. Also, the results showed that RehaCom software could improve the cognitive functions involved in the mental imagery of teenagers suffering from Internet addiction.