A person using a smartphone. photo/netdoctor.cdnds.net.An incredible 81% of us have our smartphones within arm’s reach nearly all the time, and one in five young people admit to checking their screens every five minutes.
If you’re worried about the hold your phone has over you, don’t panic too much. Our brains are constantly changing in response to our beloved smartphones, a process neuroscientists call ‘neuroplasticity’This is basically a constant process of strengthening and weakening nerve cell connection in the brain as a function of our experiences. It is definitely a plus that our brains continue to change. Given that our brains are inundated by stimuli all day long, neuroplasticity is a brain saver.
Have you noticed how you find it hard to do a simple task, like finding your way to a restaurant, without first consulting your smartphone? It has become so commonplace to look up the answer to any question, it can feel like going through withdrawal when we can’t find out something immediately. This is because it’s so easy to find the answer to, well, everything on the Internet, our own internal hard drives have become fuzzy-headed.
If your smartphone feels like an extension of your arm, that’s because it virtually is. In one study, 90% of people reported ‘phantom vibration syndrome’, where you feel a buzzing in your pocket even when your phone isn’t there. What’s more, heavy mobile phone users (that’s most of us) even feel our phones are part of our bodies.
If you’re used to living with your hand on your iPhone, just 10 minutes of separation is enough to trigger anxiety in your brain.Anxiety, often manifesting in sweaty palms or heart palpitations, is how our bodies react to the release of certain chemicals in the brain, most notably cortisol, the stress hormone.
The barrage of notifications, emails, texts and squillions of click-bait links that pop up are precisely how technology ‘overloads’ our brains.