Effects of Smartphones on the Brain

Smartphones can make us lazy. With all of the apps provided for our convenience such as food delivery apps and the hundreds of endless games, staying on the couch becomes a lot easier. Unfortunately smartphones can not only make us lazy, but new studies show they can make the brain lazy. "I think smartphones take away the need to learn because we have all the information we need right in front of them." says a TMJH student.

A study preformed by ScienceDirect tested over six hundred people on cognitive function.  They found that when it comes to intuition, people who use smartphones regularly, are much more likely to ignore what their brain says and use their phone's search engine instead. People who usually thought analytically however, relied on their phone less than people who were intuitive thinkers. "They may look up information that they actually know or could easily learn, but are unwilling to make the effort to actually think about it," says Gordon Pennycook, a co-leader of the study. People are becoming more unwilling to put in the effort of actually thinking about things.

Research also shows that smartphones can impact happiness and health in different ways than we may think. Smartphones can hurt posture due to leaning over and keeping the head hunched over. Listening to music loudly using headphones can damage hearing easily. Overuse of smartphones, particularly at night, can decrease sleep. Simply using the phone into the late night can do this but the blue light from the screen effects the melatonin production in the body decreasing sleep after the phone has been put away. Smartphones carry germs more effectively than toilet seats, these germs can lead to illness and acne.

The most obvious solution for this would be to unplug from technology but in a fast moving world with technology becoming more and more popular, that is very hard to do. It is possible, however, to cut back on use. People can lessen the amount of time they spend on electronics. This can have a positive effect of people's lives and benefit them in the long and short term. "I personally believe that once we start using our phones less we can actually start to connect with people instead of living behind a screen." says a TMJH student.

Photo Source: i.telegraph.co.uk/