Effects of Technology on the Brain

We already know that our use of technology changes how our brains work. Reading and writing are cognitive tools that, once acquired, change the way in which the brain processes information. When psychologists use neuroimaging technology, like MRI, to compare the brains of literates and illiterates working on a task, they find many differences, and not just when the subjects are reading.

Researcher Alexandre Castro-Caldas discovered that processing between the hemispheres of the brain was different between those who could read and those who could not. A key part of the corpus callosum was thicker in literates, and “the occipital lobe processed information more slowly in individuals who learned to read as adults compared to those who learned at the usual age.” Psychologists Ostrosky-Solis, Garcia and Perez tested literates and illiterates with a battery of cognitive tests while measuring their brain waves and concluded that “the acquisition of reading and writing skills has changed the brain organization of cognitive activity in general is not only in language but also in visual perception, logical reasoning, remembering strategies, and formal operational thinking.”

Notes:

Some examples of the technology impacting brain development, including thickening of portions from reading and writing.

Folksonomies: internet technology society brain

Taxonomies:
/technology and computing (0.671891)
/hobbies and interests/reading (0.198200)
/family and parenting/children (0.124903)

Keywords:
technology impacting brain (0.908128 (neutral:0.000000)), Researcher Alexandre Castro-Caldas (0.827501 (negative:-0.497192)), occipital lobe (0.670476 (neutral:0.000000)), cognitive tools (0.654996 (positive:0.349892)), corpus callosum (0.650175 (neutral:0.000000)), cognitive tests (0.624977 (neutral:0.000000)), cognitive activity (0.619629 (neutral:0.000000)), Psychologists Ostrosky-Solis (0.616802 (neutral:0.000000)), usual age. (0.598366 (neutral:0.000000)), technology changes (0.595406 (negative:-0.361389)), logical reasoning (0.592705 (neutral:0.000000)), visual perception (0.581538 (neutral:0.000000)), brain waves (0.568691 (neutral:0.000000)), brain organization (0.556432 (neutral:0.000000)), brains (0.423060 (negative:-0.437201)), literates (0.395228 (negative:-0.513012)), information (0.343125 (positive:0.209239)), hemispheres (0.301973 (negative:-0.497192)), portions (0.295955 (neutral:0.000000)), Perez (0.289923 (neutral:0.000000)), Garcia (0.283467 (neutral:0.000000)), MRI (0.281866 (neutral:0.000000)), Effects (0.280901 (neutral:0.000000)), examples (0.280629 (neutral:0.000000)), development (0.280395 (neutral:0.000000)), differences (0.275565 (negative:-0.354588)), battery (0.273642 (neutral:0.000000)), task (0.272947 (negative:-0.513012)), way (0.272472 (positive:0.209239)), subjects (0.269819 (negative:-0.283067))

Entities:
Alexandre Castro-Caldas:Person (0.934525 (negative:-0.497192)), Researcher:JobTitle (0.844306 (negative:-0.497192)), Garcia:Person (0.799879 (neutral:0.000000)), Perez:Person (0.773649 (neutral:0.000000))

Concepts:
Brain (0.981518): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Psychology (0.774821): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Cognition (0.576111): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Human brain (0.532660): dbpedia | freebase
Cerebrum (0.500065): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Mind (0.491264): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Neuroscience (0.485378): dbpedia | freebase
Reasoning (0.426343): dbpedia | opencyc

 An Intermedia with 2 Billion Screens Peering Into It
Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book:  Kelly, Kevin (January, 2010), An Intermedia with 2 Billion Screens Peering Into It, Edge Foundation, Inc., Retrieved on 2010-10-01
  • Source Material [edge.org]
  • Folksonomies: culture internet technology society