How Using Too Much Technology Affects Your Brain

Do you spend a lot of time on your devices? Read this blog to find out how technology affects your brain.

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Frequent use of digital technology has a major impact on brain function and behaviour, both negatively and positively. Increased attention deficit symptoms, reduced emotional and social intelligence, technology addictions, social isolation, delayed brain development, and disrupted sleep are all possible side effects of excessive screen time and technology use.

This post is all about how using too much technology affects your brain.

Facts, Facts, Facts

Functional MRI scans demonstrate that internet-naive older persons who learn to search online have significant increases in brain neuronal activity during simulated internet searches.

In addition, certain computer programmes and video games may improve memory, multitasking skills, fluid intelligence, and other cognitive talents. Some applications and digital technologies include self-management, monitoring, skills training, and other mental health interventions to help with mood and behaviour.

Digital technology has changed our lives dramatically during the last three decades. People of all ages are now taking advantage of the massive amounts of internet information and communication platforms.

This technology allows us to generate, store, and process massive amounts of data and communicate with one another quickly and efficiently.

The majority of individuals use the internet daily, with nearly one in four claiming to be online most of the time. As a result, neuroscientists have begun to focus their attention on how digital technology may affect our brains and behaviour due to this shift to an online environment.

The evidence suggests that frequent technology use has beneficial and negative effects on brain function and behaviour. For example, older people with cognitive problems could utilise the internet to acquire information to help them stay independent for longer; yet, many seniors with cognitive issues are hesitant or unwilling to adopt new technology.

Potential Harmful Side Effects Of Digital Technology

Several studies have found a link between computer use and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (e.g., watching television, playing video games). A meta-analysis published in 2014 found a link between media use and attention issues.

After 24 months of follow-up, a recent survey of teenagers who did not have symptoms of ADHD at the start of the study found a substantial link between more frequent use of digital media and symptoms of ADHD.

Although most studies associating technology use and ADHD symptoms have focused on children and adolescents, this link has been discovered in adults of all ages. The cause of the association between technology use and attention issues is unknown.

However, it could be due to recurrent attentional shifts and multitasking, which can impair executive functioning. Furthermore, those continuously utilising technology have fewer opportunities to socialise offline and allow their brain to return to its default function.

Impaired Social and Emotional Intelligence

Parents should minimise screen time for children aged 2 years and younger when the brain is highly flexible due to concerns that a young, growing brain may be particularly sensitive to continuous exposure to computers, smartphones, tablets, or televisions. In addition, when people spend a lot of time on digital media, they spend less time conversing face to face.

Technology Addiction

Frequent and pathological internet use has been labelled as an online addiction, similar to substance abuse disorders or pathological gambling. Preoccupations, mood swings, tolerance development, withdrawal, and functional impairment are common symptoms. The global prevalence of internet addiction is 6%, although it can be as high as 11% in particular countries, such as the Middle East. ADHD symptoms are more common in students with internet addiction than other psychiatric problems. According to the research, kids with internet addiction had more inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity symptoms than students who were not addicted to the internet.

Negative Effects On Cognitive And Mental Development

Excessive use of Digital Technology can potentially have a negative impact on cognitive and neurological development. According to a recent study, children under the age of two spend more than one hour every day in front of a screen, and by the age of three, they spend more than three hours. Increased screen time has been linked to poorer language development and executive functioning, especially in very young children and a large cohort of minority children. 

Increased screen time was one of the numerous characteristics associated with behavioural difficulties in infants. Increased screen usage was connected to worse early language development in infants aged 6 to 12 months. Digital media geared towards active learning in preschool and older children can be beneficial, but only when supported by parental contact.

The impacts of media exposure on brain development have been studied recently. More screen time and less reading time were linked to decreased brain connections between regions governing word recognition, language, and cognitive control in a study of children aged 8 to 12.

These linkages are thought to be critical for reading comprehension and show that screen time harms the growing brain. In addition, increased screen usage is linked to a decline in the integrity of white-matter pathways, which are required for reading and language.

Given the increased prevalence of screen use among even very young children when brain plasticity is at its peak, there is a major concern regarding the present generation of screen-exposed children’s cognitive and brain development, which necessitates further investigation.

Sleep

Excessive use of Digital Technology also interrupts sleep, negatively impacting cognition and behaviour. Sleep onset, sleep duration, and nightly awakenings have been significantly impacted by daily touch-screen use in infants and toddlers.

More time spent on smartphones and touch screens was linked to more sleep disruptions in adolescents, whereas tablet time was linked to poor sleep quality and more awakenings after sleep started.

In addition, increased smartphone use was linked to shorter sleep duration and less efficient sleep in adults. Sleep deprivation is linked to changes in the brain, such as decreased functional connectivity and grey-matter volume and an increased risk of age-related cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.

Although it is unknown whether staring at screens or watching media content interrupts sleep, it is widely established that the wavelength of light exposure influences the circadian rhythms that govern sleep.

Slow-wave blue light from computer and phone light-emitting diode (LED) screens disrupt circadian cycles. Furthermore, exposure to LED vs. non-LED screens has been proven to affect melatonin levels and sleep quality and lower cognitive performance. As a result, it’s critical to understand how screen time affects sleep as a moderator of numerous detrimental impacts on cognition and brain function.

Health Benefits Of Using Digital Technology

Despite these potential negative effects of digital technology on brain health, new evidence suggests that it has several advantages for the ageing brain, including possibilities for brain-strengthening neural exercise, cognitive training, and online delivery of mental-health treatments and support.

Ability To Multitask _{^{(if you believe multitasking is good)}}

Multitasking is described as executing two things simultaneously, which is only possible when the tasks are automated, but it can also apply to switching from one task to another quickly. However, according to studies, task switching increases mistake rates.

Because of the extensive use of technology, multitasking has become popular, and numerous studies have shown that it negatively influences cognitive performance. On the other hand, certain computer games may improve multitasking, which is one of the cognitive areas that degrades in a linear pattern with time.

Fluid Intelligence And Working Memory

The ability to reason and think in a flexible manner is referred to as fluid intelligence. It necessitates the development of working memory, which is the ability to store knowledge for a short length of time. Investigators have discovered that digital technology can help boost the fluid intelligence of individuals. 

Visual Attention And Response Time

Gaming has been popular for decades, and many players who began playing in the 1980s have continued to do so into their adult lives. Even though excessive playing may have detrimental health consequences, a recent study suggests that it may have positive consequences, such as increased visual attention processing, spatial imagery, reaction time, and mental rotation.

Other Forms Of Mental Health Treatment

Technological advancements have facilitated the development of unique techniques for providing mental health assistance and therapies, including apps for smartphones and tablets.

Accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and anonymity are all advantages of internet-based mental health interventions. Multiple digital mental health applications have been developed, including self-management apps that provide user feedback, such as medicine reminders, stress management recommendations, heart rate, and breathing patterns.

In addition, various other organisations offer skills training through educational videos on topics such as anxiety control and the significance of social support. In some cases, smartphone sensors can be used to collect data, including information about daily movement patterns, social interactions, and other activities throughout the day which aids in mental health treatment.

Recommendations

I personally find reading books more interesting and more valuable than wasting my time on devices. Below you can find the best books I highly recommend reading.

Books

Buy Now

Puzzles

There is an endless list of activities and things you can do instead of wasting your time on devices. I will list only a few, so you don’t need to waste more time trying to figure out which option is the best.

	Author of the game clearly knows what creativity is all about! We have spent hours and hours on this game and let me tell you something – my belly was shredded from laughing so hard!!! 🙂

Buy Now

Never too late to learn something new, right? How To Draw All The Animals is an excellent way to relax, learn something new and rest from devices.

Purchase Now

Activities

Below you can find a list of things that you can occupy your mind instead of using devices.

Yoga Walk Re-organise your wardrobe Explore nearest forrest Meditate for 1h Journaling (FREE printable here)

SPA Evening Colouring Baking Re-potting plants Gardening Create Vision Board

Final Thoughts

The study of the effects of digital technology on brain health is beginning to reveal how these new devices and programmes can both improve and hinder brain function.

For example, they exacerbate ADHD symptoms, impair emotional and social intelligence, lead to addictive behaviours, promote social isolation, and disrupt brain growth and sleep.

Specific programmes, video games, and other internet tools, on the other hand, may provide mental workouts that engage neural circuitry, improve cognitive functioning, lower anxiety, promote peaceful sleep, and provide other brain-health advantages.

Future studies should focus on the positive and negative effects of digital technology use, elucidating the underlying mechanisms and causal links between technology use and brain health.

The Best Books You Can Find On Internet. Read instead of spending time on devices.

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