Susan Greenfield: living online is changing our brains
August 5, 2011 | Source: NewScientist
(Credit: iStockphoto)
Neuroscientist Susan Greenfield cited evidence that digital technology is having an impact on our brains:
- A recent paper, Microstructure abnormalities in adolescents with internet addiction disorder, in the journal PLoS (free access).
- Increase in people with autistic spectrum disorders.
- The rise in the appeal of Twitter.
- A review by the cognitive scientist Daphne Bavelier (Children, Wired: For Better and for Worse) in the journal Neuron, in which she says that this is a given, that the brain will change. She also reviews evidence showing there’s a change in violence, distraction and addiction in children, linked to the pervasiveness of technology.
- People are spending most of their waking hours using technology, mostly in isolation.
“We should be planning a 3-D environment for our children [to enjoy] instead of putting them in front of a 2-D one,” she advises.
Comments (5)
by Duastar
I am by no means an expert on the brain; however, the inherent fear of technology is rampant. Technology is something that is here and is not going anywhere. Perhaps the goal shouldn’t be to remove the children from the internet but to instead figure out how to make the benefits outweigh the negatives. Nothing in life is purely good or purely bad, and if all we ever focus on is the bad then we will create a self fulfilling prophesy. This research is valuable on both sides, but to jump to conclusions before the research is even complete is poor science. Get STRONG scientific evidence before trying to scare people. The medications I am on to keep me alive have negative side effects, but I’m not going to stop taking them on the basis that they could have negative effects.
With the aid of technology, we are evolving. Change is frightening but we need to find what we can gain from this, not find more reasons to fight it.
by Spikosauropod
No one ever objected to someone retreating away for hours with a book. When you read a book, you are really alone. On the internet, there are live people on the other end.
Now that I think about it, there was never this sort of objection to people who spent hours or days with pen and quill writing letters or composing poetry or a novel. Granted, the level of correspondence on the Internet is not Shakespeare. At least we are all getting better at typing—a good start if you want to be a writer of any sort.
by cwe
“We should be planning a 3-D environment for our children [to enjoy] instead of putting them in front of a 2-D one,” she advises.
Fully immersive VR! Bring on Minecraft, GTA5, ThirdLife, etc!
by {i}Pan~
Evolution is a beautiful thing.
Thx for the new pic :)
by Khannea Suntzu
Yah I have been noticing this for a while. This will cause widespread fallout soon. Especially with rising unemployment.