How Does Technology Affect The Brain

Vital Paths is the title of the second chapter in Nicolas G. Carr's book, The Shallows. This chapter continues Carr's argument, posed in chapter one, in highlighting the dangers of the internet, regarding our cognitive abilities. Specifically on format, this chapter argues for our brains neurological flexibility through an array of examples, ranging from historical observations to scientific experiments, and ends cautioning that with malleability negative neurological effects are plausible.

“We are always in a perpetual state of being created and creating ourselves (Siegel, 221)”. The brain is a product of its ever-changing environment. As certain linkages between its regions are used more or less frequently, their relative strength fluctuates. Many times, cultural shifts, such as the current transition from a print culture to a digital culture, cause the largest effect on the connections within the brain. Because of the overabundance and simplicity of information on the internet, the brain is becoming more impatient and losing its ability to focus and interact at a deep level. As a result, humans must rely increasingly on the internet.

The author addresses the undeniable issues of society’s constant connection to technology. The brain can develop imbalances, for example, deficits in ability to concentrate, short attention, memory span, and emotional disturbances, such as depression (Gwinn

Around the world, the internet is a resource where individuals can meet new people, do research, or access entertainment. Although technology can do many different tasks, it also can alter child development. The effects of child development have become a main concern regarding the internet. In their separate articles, Genevieve Johnson and Nicholas Carr discuss how the technological world is becoming hazardous for the brains of adolescence. The articles mainly focuses on how a person can resort to their brain changing as they continue to use the Net and the effected social behaviors on child development.

In “Attention Deficit: The Brain Syndrome of Our Era,” Richard Restak considers the effect of technology on our brains. As we process increasing amounts of information at ever-faster speeds, Restak argues that our brains are undergoing “profound alterations” in order to adapt to the changing needs of our modern world. As technology connects us to more people, places, and information than ever before, Restak warns that we are losing important cognitive functions, in particular our ability to focus and concentrate. However Restak fails to mention that technology has created significant affordances as well. Allowing society to advance as a whole, via social media, e-mail, cell phones, and other various communications. Technology is reshaping our habits of mind.Yes technology created a slight defect to the mind but many advantages came about using technology as an asset.

In attempts to connect with millennials about why technology is harmful to young adults, Tyler includes hard scientific facts in her article. By including facts, the article appeals to readers who need justifiable proof to back up the article. Tyler discusses the damage that is potentially being done to the millennials brains by their frequent use of phones by including the fact that scientists used to think the brain was close to completely formed by

Nicholas Carr is a skeptic to the computerized age, he mentions in his book The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains the toll that the Internet and video games have on the human brain. Carr mentions the influence that innovation has on the neurological procedures of the mind. It is essential to note that Carr mentions “brain plasticity”. Plasticity is depicted through the brains reactions of neurological pathways through encounters.  

With new technological advancements occurring more rapidly each year, it is no surprise that there is an extensive conversation about how these new progressions impact the brain’s development and cognition. One trend is evident: there is a universal acknowledgment that technology is indeed changing the way we think. Among the members contributing to this conversation, two strikingly different outlooks on how these changes will affect the future exist. Either we should be terrified, or worrying is premature. Articles written by experts specializing in psychology and the brain, such as Pinker’s “Mind Over Mass Media,” as well as "How Has the Internet Reshaped Human Cognition?" by Kee and Loh, as well as and finally “Children, Wired- for

What if i were to ask you a question? What makes you capable to think about your answer? What do you think makes you capable of reading this paper? Do you remember learning skills you still use today like learning to talk or walk even think? What if i were to ask you to recall your favorite memory of your happiest or saddest day would you remember it clearly? Clearly your brain is at work in all these examples but how does your brain understand this jumble of words in this paper? I 'll explain how that works and how the brain of a certain generation can affect everything even the economy

Zilberstein (2013) states that there are many theories concerning the effect of our neurological wiring when using digital media. Zilberstein positions that since the brain is plastic and changes with experience, digital use can improve some abilities while decreasing others. Older individuals were found to improve brain activation mostly in visual areas. Cognitive improvement was also found with the brains ability to analyses and scrutinize data. She found the negative aspects were not definitively substantiated since research did not include research to support if the subjects had preexisting dilemmas. The theory of excessive media use by children, could possibly interfere with crucial learning, if it interfered with the child’s opportunity

In this paper the author describes the various parts of the brain involved in various functions related to information processing, storing, and retrieving. He talks about various instructional methods

Brain-based teaching approach is a strategy structured based on the principles of brain-based learning and with the help of three teaching techniques namely relaxed alertness, orchestrated immersion, and active processing (Caine & Caine, 1991,2003). They have emphasised that “brain research establishes and confirms multiple complex and concrete experiences essential for meaningful learning and teaching.” Based on their research and experience, further they argued that great teaching involves three fundamental elements

At first glance, technology changes the way children think. The new generation has a power to do many tasks in the same time, but it is hard for them to focus on the book. The tablet, cellphone, etc. become a toy in hand of children. As people write code for program and devices, those tools code human’s minds too. The subconscious of children is clear when they were born by reputation their minds learn how to act. There is a video on YouTube about a one-year-old girl; her father gave her a tablet. She used tablet easily, she touched a page and played well with the tablet. After that, her father gave her a magazine; she did not know how to change the page. She touched the picture of a magazine 's cover and

Further neuroscience research shows that extensive use of the internet may physically be changing our brains. Our minds adapt to new ideas and concept everyday and when introduced to a new task or job, our brains change as “new neural pathways that give instructions to our bodies” (“What…Plasticity?”) open up. Brain plasticity, “the capacity of the brain to change with learning” (Michelon) can occur at any age and is responsible for instructing our brains to perform a task. New neural wires are created when you learn something new, but those same connections can also be destroyed, for instance when you forget a person’s name, signaling the failing of a person’s memory (“What…Plasticity?”). The more time spent on the Internet, the more our brains grow more accustomed to processing simplified snippets of information very quickly, and because Internet articles become easier to read and skim over, it appeals more to the mind than denser and longer printed text.

Over the years, technology has increased in usage within many ways and has caused successful changes in a person’s lively routine. However, technology has evolved since the very beginning which concern has grown over the negative effects of its excessive use. Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” addresses the tendency of technology to create a sort of mental laziness where people look for instant answers rather than thinking for themselves. Daphne Bavelier, C. Shawn Green, and Matthew W.G. Dye have written in “Children, Wired: For Better and for Worse” on the transient and persistent effects of technology on children, particularly in terms of media exposure of television, movies, and video games. Additionally, Matt Richtel, writer for The New York Times, states in “Attached to Technology and Paying a Price” that the tendency of the brain to respond to immediate stimuli has a negative impact on the average user, ranging from disinterest to daily tasks to the risky behavior of texting and driving. Ultimately, these three articles agree that regardless of potential conveniences of heavy technology use, the tradeoff is something to be strongly considered.