10 Ways The Internet Changes Your Brain

These days we heavily rely on search engines to answer all of our questions about the world.
In fact, the average number of Google searches per day has grown from 9,800 in 1998 to over
3.5 billion today.
But do people retain the information they search for? Well, according to a study published
in 2011 by Science Magazine, the ‘Google Effect’ which is the tendency to forget
information that can be found readily online, is taking a serious toll on our brains.
Researchers staged four different memory experiments. In one, participants typed 40 bits of trivia
in to a computer; for example “an ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain”.
Half of the subjects believed the information would be saved in the computer; the other
half believed the items they typed would be erased.
The subjects were significantly more likely to remember the information if they thought
they would not be able to find it later. But is this a true sign of memory loss, or just
pure laziness?
Well, the long term effects of excessive internet usage seemingly point to the former. Or at
least a mixture of both.
Individuals who rely on the internet too much could end up suffering from deterioration
in cerebral performance such as short term memory dysfunction, also known as “Digital
Dementia”.
The internet might be eating your memory, but don’t worry, something extraordinary
is happening at the same time: we’re getting better at finding the information we need.
Essentially, the brainpower we used previously to retain facts is now being used to remember
how to look them up.
This idea that people are prioritizing where information is located has led some researchers
to suggest that digital devices and the internet have become a form of transactive memory.
In simple terms, this means the internet has morphed into our own personal external hard
drive. Although, it might be best to avoid uploading your deepest, darkest secrets to
The Cloud.
As well as helping us to locate information, studies have found that the internet can also
make adults smarter.
Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles compared the brains of middle-aged
participants who rarely used the internet to experienced internet users, as they surfed
the web for an hour a day.
After five days, areas of the prefrontal cortex in the less experienced internet users became
significantly more active. This is a damn good sign, as this is the area of the brain
that controls, the ability to make decisions and integrate complex information. So thanks
again, Internet!
How many of you are watching this video, while simultaneously performing a bunch of other
tasks? Yes, I'm talking to you - person simultaneously checking your Facebook while watching this.
Multitasking is not a new phenomena, it existed way before the birth of the internet. But
smartphones and laptops - with their infinite numbers of tabs - has made multitasking much
easier.
Now, this may seem positive, but actually our love of multitasking is making it harder
to concentrate.
Stanford neuroscientist Russ Poldrack has found that learning new information while
multitasking can actually cause information to go to the wrong part of the brain.
Normally, new information goes into the hippocampus, which is responsible for the long-term storage
of knowledge.
However if, for example, a student is studying on their laptop whilst also watching TV, the
same information might go to the striatum, which is responsible for storing new procedures
and skills, not facts and ideas.
Basically, this means that it’s stored in a shallower way, preventing quick retrieval
in the future.
There’s a reason why you are so obsessed with the cybersphere: Internet addiction can
cause the same brain changes that heroin does to addicts.
That’s right, using the internet everyday can apparently have the same effects as shooting
up in an alleyway.
You see, internet users feel the same stimulation received from gadgets, that drug users do
with Class A’s.
The culprit is dopamine, which is delivered as a response to the stimulation — without
it, you feel bored.
‘Internet Addiction Disorder’ is not yet classified as an official mental health condition,
but there’s extensive research out there to prove that it’s a very real problem.
There are even Internet addiction rehab centers. The first in the US opened way back in 2009,
called reSTART. Patients at the centre must complete a 45-day program designed to bring
balance back to their lives.
Too much doom and gloom? How about another positive change? The internet has birthed
a whole new form of innovation, making it easier for artists and non-artists to engage
with creative media.
There’s no doubt that the digital revolution has produced a large number of unique products
and services. From Google, to Airbnb to Spotify to Club Penguin, there’s been an explosion
of creative activity in the cybersphere.
These days there are over 2.5 million apps, and around 300 hours of video are uploaded
to Youtube every single minute. That’s a lot of people using the platform for creative
purposes.
Author Clay Shirky argues that the Internet enhances what he calls "cognitive surplus,"
the excess hours and brain power we can devote to pursuing activities and goals we enjoy.
Social media is also a powerful tool for online creatives, with its culture of sharing, users
feels more inclined to create and share something of their own. That could be anything from
a blog post, to a book review, to a Youtube video.
Social media might be good for creativity, but it can also have a significant impact
on social interaction in real-life situations, also known as the ‘Distancing Phenomena’.
The theory goes that what a person does in cyberspace is very different to what someone
can do face-to-face in an actual conversation.
UCLA scientists tested it out. They stranded two groups of sixth-graders in the woods and
forced them to camp out for a week.
One group was free to continue using their Apple devices to their hearts' content, while
the second was forced to step off the grid and live without internet.
After just five days, researchers found that the Internet-deprived group was significantly
better at recognizing nonverbal communication such as "facial expressions, eye contact,
tone of voice, and body language" than the group that had remained glued to their screens.
So do us a favour and get off your phone or laptop, well after you finish the video of
curse.
Have you ever got the sensation that your phone was vibrating in your pocket when actually
it wasn’t at all?
If so, you’re one of the 90% of people who suffer from ‘phantom vibration syndrome’.
Dr Robert Rosenberger, professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, says the modern day
phenomenon occurs due to “learned bodily habits.”
Movement of clothing or muscle spasms can often cause you to reach for your phone, only
to find you haven’t got a message, or even a retweet.
Today mobile phones are causing these hallucinations, but in the 1990s, people reported “phantom
pager syndrome.”
David Laramie, a clinical psychologist claims phantom vibration syndrome is simply “part
of the modern landscape and our relationship with technology.”
According to Laramie, PVS is a generational thing. If you grew up with cellphones and
the internet, and have them ingrained in your daily life, you’re more likely to experience
the effect than older people or technophobes.
For thousands of years, we have all been reading in the same linear fashion, from left to right.
But when Tim Berners Lee launched the World Wide Web in 1991, our novel-like way of reading
changed dramatically.
These days we’re more focused on scanning for keywords, following links, and gathering
small amounts of information while we skip across different pages and tabs.
According to neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf, who has studied the effects of the Internet
on how we read, the only way we can preserve the old ways is to teach children both methods
of reading. But that’s only if we agree that maintaining the old ways is even desirable.
Beyond this, our brains are even training our eyes to move in certain patterns on the
screen.
The NNG research group have coined this new way of reading as the “F-Shaped Pattern”,
whereby a person’s eyes move in an F-shape down the page.
This theory goes hand in hand with our crap attention span. So if a piece of content or
information is longer than a few lines, most of us won’t read it. We’re a fickle bunch.
Do you believe everything you read online? You’d be surprised at how many people do.
You see, companies set up thousands of fake “grassroots” personalities to swamp message
boards with a specific opinion in the hopes that you will notice the sheer number of comments
arguing something such as ‘Kanye for president’ and be swayed by them.
Most commonly known as “astroturfing,” this sneaky way of tapping into the brains
of internet users is used by everyone from tobacco companies to the US Air Force—and
the terrifying thing is, it’s working.
A Canadian study quizzed 278 students about climate change and asked how they felt about
it. They were then randomly assigned to view either a real climate science page, or an
“astroturf” one set up to discredit the idea.
The results were pretty alarming. The students who visited the fake pages and encountered
the fake commenters were more likely to be less certain about climate change than before,
even when they thought the websites were lying.
It doesn’t stop at climate change though. These days, political campaigns are won, and
lost, online.
New Yorker writer Adrian Chen claimed that Russia hired thousands of trolls, likely being
paid by the Kremlin, to spread pro-Trump propaganda on social media during the 2016 presidential
election.
Have you noticed that you’ve been getting a bit of Twitter rage recently? Or feeling
serious FOMO about the party you missed and everyone is talking about on social media?
Well, the internet has the capacity to make your brain feel a whole host of emotions.
Take Facebook for example. It’s a craze that refuses to die and according to science,
it’s making us all absolutely miserable.
A study published by the Public Library of Science in 2013, monitored participants’
Facebook usage for two weeks while simultaneously keeping tabs on their mood.
The results showed that frequent Facebook users reported lower life-satisfaction both
at the end of the fortnight and after individual visits to the site.
Depression is only one side effect from Facebook, though. A separate German investigation found
that the primary emotion felt by young people on the site is envy.
The theory goes that most of us inflate our achievements and happiness on our profiles,
but somehow miss the logical assumption that everyone else is doing it too.
It’s not all bad news though, the Pew Research Centre found last year that Facebook users
have more close friends, more trust in people, feel more supported, and are more politically
involved compared to non-social media users. Let’s just hope their political views aren't
being influenced by astroturfers.
So that’s 10 Ways The Internet Changes Your Brain, which of these did you find the most
interesting? Let us know in the comments! If you enjoyed this video, why not check out
10 Ways Your Mind Plays Tricks On You.

10 Ways The Internet Changes Your Brain

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