Jj is for Jottings 154.  How Smartphones Affect the Brain.

In this article we will cover some of the latest research on how smartphones affect the brain.  We have previously discussed  the effects of screen time on children.  Amongst other aspects, this included language delay in children exposed to screens at an early age.  We have also discussed the effects of digital distraction, which relates to a range of technological devices.  Here we will look into the specific effects on the brain of smartphones, rather than screens in general.

SMARTPHONES ARE ADDICTIVE.

It is quite clear that smartphones are addictive.  Just walk down the street and see how many people you have to deliberately avoid as they focus on their phone rather than watching where they are going.  Or how many people are continually checking their phones during a conversation.  This is called “phubbing”, which stands for “phone snubbing”, and may well be a subject for a future article. Both of these examples have more consequences for the non phone users.  The first instance leads to having to get out of the way of the phone users to avoid collision.  In the second example the non phone user is interrupted by the phone behaviour and feels undervalued, at the very least.

But exactly what changes are being wrought in the brain of the smartphone user who clocks up a significant amount of phone use time per day?  (And remember, these changes are all examples of neuroplasticity in action.)

THE BRAIN’S WHITE MATTER.

Many people are familiar with the idea of the brain containing grey matter and white matter.  Put simply, the grey matter is the areas where the actual “processing” happens.  The white matter provides the communication between different grey matter areas and between the grey matter and the rest of the body.  So the white matter forms an informational highway that lets neurons in different parts of the brain communicate with each other. This tissue, deep within the brain, contains nerve fibres and axons that facilitate the conduction of electrical signals.

One of the chief concerns arising from the latest research is that using a smartphone makes changes to the brain’s white matter, resulting in “sustained negative impact on thinking, remembering, attention and emotion regulation.”  (This was from an Asian study.)

These changes in white matter linked to smartphone use may also cause diminished proprioception , which is the perception of where your body is. This can lead to sensorimotor deficits, which in turn may result in some loss of coordinated muscle control.

The researchers point out that at least half of young adults are now engaged in what the scientists call “smartphone dependence,” and that overuse of smartphones around the world has become epidemic.

This study involved only young adults, but the same would apply to older adults with the same amount of phone use.

SMARTPHONES AFFECT NEUROTRANSMITTERS.

Neurotransmitters are vital chemical messengers, and your body can’t function without them.  Their job is to carry chemical signals – the messages – from one nerve cell (neuron) to the next target cell.  This target cell might be another neuron, a muscle cell or a gland.

Another study in Asia shows that hours spent on your phone can change the balance of neurotransmitters in your brain in ways that can make you more anxious and fatigued.

The study found that staring at that little screen too much can result in increases in a brain chemical called gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA).  One of GABA’s functions is to moderate nerve signals in the brain and to regulate muscle movement and vision.  They found that, as GABA increases, there is a simultaneous drop in a neurochemical called Glx (glutamate-glutamine).

This could be a real problem, because other research has found that low levels of Glx may be linked to gambling problems and impulsive behaviour.

Impulsive Behaviour Can Lead to Many Problems.

With so many children hooked on smartphones, some starting as young as seven years old, this raises a question:  How much of the current increase in impulsive behaviours and lack of attention and focus is related to smartphone use?  Teachers at any school will tell you all about the increase in these behaviours which interfere with children’s learning.  And they make life so difficult for the teachers.

Of course, we don’t know for sure if that is the reason in individual cases, but it is certainly worth asking the questions.  If there is a background of smartphone use, then there is something that can be done to address these problems.  Simple, but not easy.

We should note that these researchers weren’t studying children, but they found smartphone use causes changes in the brain that are alarming – even more so if they occur in children.

More Effects of Changes in Neurotransmitters.

These changes in neurotransmitters affect what happens in the cingulate cortex.  This part of the brain contains neurons which control your blood pressure and pulse rate, and are also involved with emotional shifts and the ability to make reasonable decisions.  This is another reason the scientists are saying the imbalance of neurotransmitters may hamper learning abilities and make it harder to retain new information.

OTHER PROBLEMS LINKED TO SMARTPHONE USE.

Interrupted sleep and weight gain.

Research at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark showed that phone use at night results in significantly less sleep and a greater chance of being overweight. And yet another study in Asia found that the more you use your phone, the worse you sleep.

Possible increased risk of cancer.

In the evening the blue light from your phone can shrink your body’s nocturnal secretion of melatonin by almost 60 percent. (University of Houston research.)  Apart from helping you sleep, this hormone helps the body fight off cancer.

And the brain cancer risk due to smartphone emissions of EMFs has been a recurring theme for years.  For this reason alone it is wise to minimise smartphone use and never hold the phone close to your ear.  Use headphones or put the phone on speakerphone when you talk.

Decrease in memory and intellectual performance.

A study in Switzerland found that radiation from phones, when you hold them near your head, results in poorer memory in young adults. They echo the advice to use headphones or the speakerphone.

SMARTPHONES AFFECT THE BRAIN IN MANY WAYS.

As can be seen from above, smartphones affect the brain in many ways, none of which is desirable.  Adults were the subjects of these studies, , but how much worse will the effects be on children’s brains?  And we must remember that smartphones became popular in the ‘90s and early 2000s.  This means that children today have potentially a much longer lifetime exposure than the adults in the studies above.

Bear in mind that these studies report on a great deal of smartphone use.  They are not suggesting that reasonable, non-addicted use has these effects.  Of course smartphones can be extremely useful tools.  I don’t have one and I manage quite well, but I can see some very positive uses for them.  However, children do NOT need smartphones.  But they do need plenty of physical activity and real social interaction to healthy and happy.  Do your children – and your hip pocket – a favour and stand firm against pleas for a smartphone.  At the same time be aware of the example you are setting with your own phone use.  Talk about the issue with them.

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