BrainBlog

From the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation : Are cellphones and the internet rewiring our brains? May 21, 2007 By Sabrina Saccoccio, CBC News Try reading this article to the end without checking e-mail. Find you can't? Before making assumptions of addictive behaviour, you should know there's a positive side to switching tasks often. You may actually be training your brain to become faster and stronger. Studies are beginning to show that cellphone-toting execs and Facebook-friendly teens may be multi-tasking their way into taking on even more, by rewiring their brains to handle it. The action of using a cellphone or e-mail has an immediate effect on the brain. Answering calls and thumbing texts prepares the human brain to take on such tasks — because its circuitry adapts to the environment it's presented with. "People will often ask me, 'Are kids today different to kids 20 years ago?' Well, yes, they are. Because the world is different, their brains have wired u...