With phone numbers, routes
and facts just a touch away, we’re becoming less reliant on our memory – and German
neuroscientist Manfred Spitzer warns this ‘cognitive offloading’ could be
leading to a kind of ‘digital dementia.’
Studies on internet and
gaming addicts has uncovered atrophy (shirking) in the brain’s grey matter,
says the University of Bedfordshire’s Prof James Barnes. Overdosing on
technology seems to cause the frontal lobe – a brain area that governs functions
such as planning and organizing – to suffer in particular. However, he adds
that more research is needed on ‘real’ as opposed to ‘addicted’ internet users.
Digital offloading may
also make memories less vivid. A US study asked museum visitors to photograph
exhibits and just look at others. The next day their memory was tested. Visitors
were worse at recognizing objects they had photographed, and worse at recalling
details about the objects they’d photographed.
But Dr Sam Gilbert, of
University College London, says there are also positives. “Research shows that when you save information to an external store like
a computer, this can help you to store new memories. Your mind is no longer
cluttered with information that you don’t need.”
(Summarized from BBC Earth Magazine (Vol.9 Issue 1), page
31 by Jo Carlowe)
Verdict: Short-term
changes are likely but more research is needed on long-term impact
Lord, Give
Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)
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