Women are more addicted to the internet than men, and that a specific genetic variant is responsible for this addiction, university of Bonn researchers said.

The researchers interviewed a total of 843 people about their internet habits, eventually trim down the group to 132 online addicts. The compiled data was then compared to a group of 'healthy' people. It was found that the addicts were more frequently the carriers of a specific genetic variation.

They also found that the specific genetic variant was linked to internet addiction, and the link was found occurring most frequently in women.

Christian Montag, who led the study, said that addiction to internet is not a figment of imagination. He added that we already know about the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor that a mutation on the concerned gene boosts addictive behavior.

Speaking on the topic, Montag further said, “It seems that this connection is not only essential for nicotine addiction, but also for Internet addiction.”

The finding about women is in contrast with previous studies that had found men to be more prone to internet addiction than women.