Has The Internet Re-wired Your Brain?

We are spending more and more time online to the extent that we appear to be a permanent guest in the digital world. Technologies such as the internet have become ubiquitous with the result that many of us struggle to remember a time when we didn't have them.

Can you remember what it was like before the internet? Or what it was like before broadband? Many people especially those who are known as the 'iGeneration' will find it difficult to imagine life before the internet and other forms of technology. They have grown up with digital technology to the extent that it is a major part of their lives. They can perform several tasks at once such as texting, updating their status on their Facebook page, watch a video, listen to music and post a couple of comments on a blog.

Internet overload

But can you have too much of a good thing? It is being argued that this constant 24/7 access to technology is rewiring our brains to the extent that we are losing certain skills. These cognitive skills include attention span, focus, patience and reflection.

Change in behaviour

This continual stimulation has changed the circuitry of our brains and led to new patterns of behaviour. For example a decrease in social skills such as being able to maintain eye contact or even talking to another human being.

Other examples include:

• Shorter attention span

• Inability to focus on one task at a time

• Difficulty in concentrating

• Lack of focus

• Lack of patience

• Unable to process large amounts of information

• Inability to analyse or seek deeper meanings

For many of us there is an inability to switch off from this and any other form of technology. This is especially the case with the blurring of the lines between home and work, for example, checking your BlackBerry, answering work calls in the early hours of the morning or working on your laptop until late.

This happens in the evenings and weekends to the point that work encroaches more and more on your home life. Technology may have meant freedom from the office in the form of home working and telecommuting but it has its downsides as well. It means that you are always on call, enslaved to your smartphone or laptop in our 24/7 society.

Form of evolution

One way of viewing this is to see it is as an evolutionary process. Our brains evolved thousands of years ago and are undergoing another change due to the influence of the internet. It may be that our brains are adapting as we look for new ways of finding information and sharing this with others. Arguments will continue as to whether the internet is having a positive or negative effect on our mental processes.

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