CANBERRA (Reuters)
- The Internet is not just changing the way people live but altering
the way our brains work with a neuroscientist arguing this is an
evolutionary change which will put the tech-savvy at the top of the new
social order.
Gary Small, a neuroscientist at UCLA in California who specializes
in brain function, has found through studies that Internet searching
and text messaging has made brains more adept at filtering information
and making snap decisions.
But while technology can accelerate learning and boost creativity it
can have drawbacks as it can create Internet addicts whose only friends
are virtual and has sparked a dramatic rise in Attention Deficit
Disorder diagnoses.
Small, however, argues that the people who will come out on top in
the next generation will be those with a mixture of technological and
social skills.
"We're seeing an evolutionary change. The people in the next
generation who are really going to have the edge are the ones who
master the technological skills and also face-to-face skills," Small
told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"They will know when the best response to an email or Instant Message is to talk rather than sit and continue to email."
In his newly released fourth book "iBrain: Surviving the
Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind," Small looks at how
technology has altered the way young minds develop, function and
interpret information.
Small, the director of the Memory & Aging Research Center at the
Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior and the Center on
Aging at UCLA, said the brain was very sensitive to the changes in the
environment such as those brought by technology.
He said a study of 24 adults as they used the Web found that
experienced Internet users showed double the activity in areas of the
brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning as Internet
beginners.
"The brain is very specialized in its circuitry and if you repeat
mental tasks over and over it will strengthen certain neural circuits
and ignore others," said Small.
"We are changing the environment. The average young person now
spends nine hours a day exposing their brain to technology. Evolution
is an advancement from moment to moment and what we are seeing is
technology affecting our evolution."
Small said this multi-tasking could cause problems.
He said the tech-savvy generation, whom he calls "digital natives,"
are always scanning for the next bit of new information which can
create stress and even damage neural networks.
"There is also the big problem of neglecting human contact skills
and losing the ability to read emotional expressions and body
language," he said.
"But you can take steps to address this. It means taking time to cut
back on technology, like having a family dinner, to find a balance. It
is important to understand how technology is affecting our lives and
our brains and take control of it."
(Editing by Paul Casciato)
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