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Study: Multimedia Multitasking May Be Shrinking Human Brains

Posted by samzenpus on from the idiot-device dept.

An anonymous reader writes It seems that switching between laptop, smart phone and tablet may be shrinking our brains and leaving us prone to higher levels of anxiety and stress reports new research from the University of Sussex in the UK. The researchers point out that the link is currently a correlation rather than a proof of causation, but they do suggest that people who used a higher number of media devices concurrently also had smaller grey matter density — in other words they have smaller brains.

2 of 87 comments (clear)

  1. Not a new concern by CRCulver · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This idea that multitasking and short attention spans have a negative impact on cognition is not new. It goes back at least to Nicholas Carr's 2008 magazine article that served as the basis for his book The Shallows .

    I think there are philosophical issues here. While the human biological organism might be "getting stupider", if our electronic devices are seen as augmentations, then doesn't our total cyborg person remain just as intelligent? That is, people have not become stupider, they have just moved some information processing from the brains in their skull to the devices in their heads.

    The appearance of emotional issues might be a serious problem, but on the other hand, let's see how future generations who grow up with electronics from their infancy feel.

  2. What doesn't? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Porn shrinks your brain

    Lack of sleep shrinks your brain

    Multi-tasking shrinks your brain

    Religion shrinks your brain

    Fat shrinks your brain

    Elevated Blood Sugar shrinks your brain

    Stress shrinks your brain

    Aging shrinks your brain

    Alcohol shrinks your brain

    Vegetarianism shrinks your brain

    Type 2 diabetes shrinks your Brain

    Cell phones shrink your brain

    I think medical fear mongering is shrinking our brains.

    And yes, I did search for "Climate Change is shrinking our brains." No hits. So there you go MSM; a perfectly good theme that no one has used yet.