What Is The Effect Of The Internet On Our Brain?
A fact that nobody can deny is that the internet is strongly present in our everyday life. We write several tweets a day, spend a lot of time looking at photos on Facebook, and chat constantly through different mobile messaging services.
For many, technology guides their daily work and tasks, whether it’s organizing their schedule through an app, or taking a look at traffic before leaving the house. Recognizing this reality, it turns out to be essential to ask yourself about how the internet affects our brain, such a moldable and adaptable organ.
Adaptation Models
Currently, we can talk about five different cases of brain adaptation to the internet:
1. The brain of an addict: a large number of people have recurrent patterns similar to people addicted to some drug, such as abstinence that appears after a certain period of time without accessing the internet.
2. Loneliness and jealousy: unlike what most people believe, people isolate themselves as they abuse social networks. In addition, they often generate feelings of jealousy and even envy from people who usually post pictures of everything that happens in their lives. This effect is called “Facebook Depression” .
3. Suicides of vulnerable adolescents: several researchers at Oxford University, England, have shown that the more time spent surfing the internet, the greater the probability of suicide, or self-harm in vulnerable adolescents (ie, those people who have considered committing suicide or harming themselves in the past).
4. Memory problems: Information overload can saturate our brain, which is why it hinders our attention span, data filtering and even our memory, both short and long term.
5. Improved brain functions: that’s right! Not everything related to the internet is bad. Our brain adapts very easily to the internet. According to a scientific study done in 2008, moderate use of the internet can improve our brain functions, especially if we use search engines (Yahoo, Google, Bing, etc.) as tools to stimulate neural patterns, something that helps a lot older people. This means that the action of searching the Internet involves a complex brain activity that, when exercised wisely, can positively stimulate our neurons.
As we can see, our brain’s adaptation to new technologies varies according to the daily use we make of them. Abusing the Internet can have negative effects on people’s minds, especially those who are more vulnerable. On the other hand, correct use of the internet, specifically guided by daily moderation, can improve our brain function.
How to face the problems
Do you believe you can have any of the first four types of brain adaptation with respect to the internet? Keep in mind that it’s never too late to change. Try to think objectively about the use of new technologies, such as browsing social networks, and the time devoted to them daily. Remember that if you achieve balance in this aspect of your life, the benefits will be huge. What do you think?
Image Credits: Ben Raynal
