,i  #aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #ijeh  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,december #ca1 #bjbj 
,mr4 ,kennedy introduced the following  
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,energy and ,commerce  ,a 
,,bill  ,to require the ,director of the
 ,national ,institutes of ,health to    
enter into a contract with the ,national
 ,academies of ,sciences1 ,engineering1 
and ,medicine to study addiction to and 
dependence on social media applications1
 and for other purposes4  #a4 ,short    
title ,this ,act may be cited as the    
,act of #bjbj4  #b4 ,national ,academies
 study on addiction to or dependence on 
social media applications  7a7 ,study   
7#a7 ,in general ,not later than #ij    
days after the date of the enactment of 
this ,act1 the ,director of the         
,national ,institutes of ,health 7in    
this section referred to as the         
,director71 in consultation with the    
,secretary of ,health and ,human        
,services and the ,chair of the ,federal

 ,trade ,commission1 shall enter into a 
contract with the ,national ,academies  
of ,sciences1 ,engineering1 and         
,medicine 7in this section referred to  
as the ,national ,academies7 to conduct 
a study on the clinical aspects of      
addiction or psychological dependence of
 social media applications4  7#b7       
,timeline ,in carrying out paragraph    
7#a71 the ,director shall require the   
,national ,academies by the date that is
 #b years after the date of enactment of
 this ,act-- 7,a7 to complete the study 
under paragraph 7#a72 and  7,b7 to      
submit a report on the results of such  
study to the ,secretary of ,health and  
,human ,services1 the ,director of the  
,national ,institutes of ,health1 the   
,director of the ,office of ,behavioral 
and ,social ,sciences ,research of the  
,national ,institutes of ,health1 the   
,chair of the ,federal ,trade           
,commission1 the ,chair of the ,consumer
 ,product ,safety ,commission1 the      
,committee on ,energy and ,commerce of  

the ,house or ,representatives1 and the 
,committee on ,commerce1 ,science1 and  
,transportation of the ,senate4  7b7    
,topics of study ,the study described in
 this subsection shall address the      
following topics3  7#a7 ,whether use of 
social media applications release       
dopamine in a manner that could result  
in addiction to such applications4  7#b7
 ,the levels of dopamine released during
 use of such applications and the rate  
of such release4  7#c7 ,the level and   
rate of dopamine release that may       
increase the likelihood of addiction to 
such applications4  7#d7 ,the areas of  
the brain that are stimulated when using
 such applications and what happens to  
such areas4  7#e7 ,whether use of such  
applications can result in addiction4   
7#f7 ,whether addiction to such         
applications is more likely among       
certain age groups4  7#g7 ,why          
individuals would become addicted to    
such applications4  7#h7 ,whether there 
are common features or functions of such

 applications that cause addiction to   
such applications without physical      
dependence4  7#i7 ,whether there is an  
amount of usage of such applications    
that affects the likelihood of addiction
 to such applications4  7#aj7 ,whether  
there are other risk factors that       
increase or decrease the likelihood of  
addiction to such applications4  7#aa7  
,the symptoms of addiction to or        
dependence on such applications4  7#ab7 
,whether there are withdrawal symptoms  
when an addicted or dependent individual
 stops usage of such applications4      
7#ac7 ,whether use of such applications 
negatively impacts other mental health  
conditions4  7#ad7 ,the threshold at    
which such application can have an      
effect on other mental health           
conditions4  7#ae7 ,steps that may be   
taken to mitigate or reduce the         
likelihood of addiction to such         
applications4  7#af7 ,areas of research1
 in the short term and long term1 that  
may be useful in the future4  7#ag7     

,what can be applied from other         
addiction situations1 and approaches1 to
 studying the topics listed in this     
subsection4  7#ah7 ,such other topics   
relating to the clinical aspects of     
addiction or psychological dependence of
 social media applications as may be    
determined by the ,national ,academies4