Is Sitting Behind Your Computer Helping or Harming Your Brain? The explosion of digital technology is not only changing the way we live and communicate but it is also altering our brains. Daily exposure to high technology – computers, mobile phones, blackberries, video games, search engines like Google – have become a way of life for most people. These technologies stimulate brain cell alteration and neurotransmitter release, gradually strengthening new neural pathways in our brains while weakening old ones.  Because of the current technological revolution, our brains are evolving at this moment at a speed previously unknown!   Daily Technology Use We use digital technology for entertainment, communication, discussion, and for keeping up with friends/relatives/colleagues. As the brain evolves and shifts towards adapting to new technological skills, it drifts away from more fundamental social skills. These include reading facial expressions during a chat, or grasping the more emotional context of a subtle gesture. Here are some of the facts and figures: •    For every hour we spend on our computers, traditional face-to-face interaction time with other people drops by nearly 30 minutes (2002 Stanford University study). •    From 1000 children followed on a typical day: o    75% watch TV, with 32% of these watching DVDs or videos o    Daily exposure time to TV/DVD/video was 1 hour 20 minutes o    5-6 year olds spend an extra 50 minutes in front of the computer (2007 University of Texas at Austin study) •    Young people aged between 8-18 years old expose their brains to 8.5 hours of digital and video stimulation every day including: o    4 hours is passive (watching TV/videos) o    1.45 hours is passive (listening to music) o    50 mins is active (playing video games) o    1 hour is active (using the computer) (2005 Kaiser Family Foundation study) The brain’s neural circuitry responds every moment to whatever sensory input it gets. This means that the many hours we spend in front of the computer    - surfing around on the internet, emailing, on-line shopping – expose our brains to constant digital stimulation. Today’s young people in their teens and 20s have been born into a world in which they only know 24-hour TV, internet, mobile phones, digital cameras and text messaging. They rarely go into libraries or use a real book encyclopaedia to look up information  (I am sounding almost like a dinosaur here!). The neural networks of these ‘digital natives’ (as they have been called), differs dramatically from those who came into the digital age as adults and teenagers (they have been called ‘digital immigrants’).  In this group their basic brain wiring was laid down during a time when direct social interaction was the norm. How Quickly Can The Brain Adapt? A group of researchers at UCLA (California) decided to look at just how much impact this computer time was having on the brain wiring – and as to how quickly the brain can build up new pathways. They used fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging, otherwise known as brain scanning) to compare the brains of computer naives (i.e people who were relatively inexperienced and naive to computers) to computer savvies (i.e people who were experienced with computers).  The biggest problem they had was not a technical one, but was in being able to recruit people who had very little knowledge of computers! The savvies and the naives were placed in the MRI scanner and given a simple internet search task to do, whilst their brain was being scanned to see if there were any differences in the groups. They were also asked to read a book whilst in the scanner, as a sort of ‘control test’.  The naives were then told to go and practice surfing on the internet for 1 hour a day for 5 days, and then report back for the second brain scan.  Again, both groups were scanned whilst doing an internet search task, and whilst reading a book. The results were fascinating. In the first scan, there were no differences between the groups whilst reading the book. However, during the internet surfing task, the savvies had much more activity in the dorsal prefrontal cortex. This area is involved in the ability to make decisions and integrate complex information.  It is also thought to control our metal process of integrating sensations and thoughts, as well as working (short-term) memory. The brain scan following the 5-day gap during which the naives practiced for 1 hour a day, revealed that that same dorsal prefrontal cortex area was now as active. The computer savvies’ brain activity was similar between the 2 scans suggesting that once the brain rewiring takes place it remains stable. What is incredible is that after just 5 hours on the internet the computer naives had already rewired their brains! Continuous Partial Attention and Techno-Brain Burnout The hi-tech revolution has plunged us into a state of continuous connectedness. One the one had this sounds good, but people often get into a state always being busy and keeping tabs on everything that they don’t truly focus on anything. This has been termed ‘continuous partial attention’. Although being connected to friends, family and colleagues online can seem intimate and connected we do risk losing that personal touch with our real-life relationships as compared to devoting our attention to one individual at a time. Paying continuous partial attention has been shown to place the brain in a heightened state of stress. The person does not have time to reflect, contemplate or make thoughtful decisions. Our brains were not built to sustain such monitoring for extended periods of time. Eventually the hours of unrelenting digital connectivity can create a unique type of brain strain….feelings of being space out, fatigued, irritable, distracted and ‘foggy’ sensations. The result is a sort of techno-brain burnout :=( Under this kind of stress, our brains instinctively signal the adrenal glands to secrete cortisol and adrenaline. The stress hormones boost energy levels and improve memory, but overtime they actually impair cognition, lead to depression, and alter the neural circuitry in the amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (brain regions which control mood and thought). Chronic and prolonged techno-brain burnout can even reshape the underlying brain structure! However, there is an antidote. Another study (form Harvard) found that varying the type of tasks you undertake, and having a break in between, refreshed and reinvigorated the brain. The optimum break involved a 60-minute sleep, since this is the time it takes for the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep to kick in. The Good Effects of Computers But are computers all doom and gloom for our brains & social lives? No, they certainly are not. Here are some of the characteristics that working with computers have been shown positively affect: •    Reacting more quickly to visual stimuli •    Improvement in different forms of attention •    Improved ability to notice images in our peripheral vision •    Better ability to sift through large amounts of information •    IQs have been rising with advancing digital culture •   Some computer games can improve cognitive ability and multi-tasking skills (ha ,ha, this one must only be for men…!) The Scales of Balance So maybe the answer – as with most things in life – is finding the BALANCE. The neural circuits allow us to rapid-fire our way through piles of information, but it is also important to maintain and improve our personal contact and ‘people skills’ too. Only in this way will we be able to have the best of both worlds by being able to not only take advantage of the efficiency and speed of technology, but also the slow-old-world effectiveness of true empathic listening and connection.  And with that final computer keystroke, I am going into the garden for a spot of good old-fashioned book reading :=)