At one time people didn’t think cigarettes were a health risk. Many people now worry we’re being similarly cavalier about health risks when it comes smartphone use. Are smartphones having an effect on our brains? And then there’s the easier-to-recognize addiction/immersion problem. Get a little nervous when you’re away from your phone? You’re not alone. But science has some good news.
A new study finds that heavy smartphone use (is there another kind?) corresponds to increased activity in the cortical area of the brain. Researchers discovered that the brain changed as smartphone use increased: more use meant increased tactile acuity in the fingers. As a result “tactile and spatial discrimination performance” improved. In other words the brain made automatic adjustments according to the smartphone activity–it reorganized. Viatcheslav Wlassoff, PhD at Brain Blogger writes more about how repetitive use and touch “stimulates the brain” and “improves perceptual performance.”