The impulsive act of checking Facebook while driving, in a work meeting or at other times may be associated with a deficiency in the balance between two systems in the brain, scientists say.

The greater the imbalance between the two systems, the more likely individuals were to engage in problematic social media use behaviours, researchers said. Researchers, including those from DePaul University in the US, obtained responses from about 341 undergraduate college students who use Facebook.

As many as 63 per cent reported using Facebook while talking face-to-face with others and 65 per cent reported using Facebook at work instead of working.

The clear and strong effect of problematic social media use on an academic performance was astounding

Ofir Turel, Professor at California State University

"A slight increase in problematic social media use translates into significant grade loss, and this declined
performance is persistent - it remained one year after our initial study," said Ofir Turel, a professor at California State University in the US.