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The effect of the human brain from phones

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The effect of the human brain from phones

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- People in research found that 50-minute cell phone use, was associated with increased brain glucose metabolism. This study was found in February, 23
- Cell phone use has an effect on brain activity, but health consequences as well.
- Cell phone use has a lot of positive side effects to the Human Brain, but cellphone use can also cause an addiction to the human brain

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- In my study in this article, I found that people do become addicted to their phone, because of their notifications, or the calls that they receive. For instance, When you are in a conference or in a meeting, and your phones rings, what do you do? You might say " turn it off ", but in reality, people stop the conversation and ask for a minute or two, and take the call, which means a risk to what you are doing or which situation your in.

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Nir's Note: This guest post by Avi Itzkovitch offers some clues as to why we can't seem to put our cell phones down. Avi (@xgmedia) is an Independent User Experience Consultant. He is currently working from his Tel-Aviv Studio XG Media.
Do you constantly check your smartphone to see if you've received messages or notifications on Facebook? Does your phone distract you from your studies or work? Do your friends, parents, children, or spouse complain that you are not giving them enough attention because of your phone? You may be addicted to your phone.

The smartphone has become a constant companion. We carry it throughout the day and keep it by our bedside at night. We allow ourselves to be interrupted with messages from social media, emails and texts. We answer phone calls at times when it is not socially acceptable, and we put our immediate interactions with friends and family on hold when we hear that ring tone that tells us a message is arrived. Something fundamental in human behavior has changed: our sense of phone etiquette and propriety has caused us to get out of whack in our interactions with one another.

So why is it that we allow ourselves to be interrupted? Why do we feel it necessary to answer these calls? Maybe the addiction started long before cell phones even existed, with the advent of the phone itself. Albrecht Schmidt speculates in the Interaction Design Foundation Encyclopedia:

This behaviour is perhaps rooted in the old model of synchronous telecommunication where phone calls were expensive and important - which is less true nowadays. Also, before the advent of caller-id, you could not simply return the phone call as you would not know who had called you unless you actually answered the call. Although technology has changed a lot, some of our behaviours around new technologies are still rooted in an understanding of older technology.

Long before cell phones existed, we began to assign importance to every interaction on our phones because if we didn't act in the moment, we'd miss the opportunity. With smartphones, however, a host of features make the addictive nature of the phone even worse.
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Smartphones Offer Variable Rewards

Schmidt may have a point, but I believe it goes further. Many smartphone users have never experienced the older technology and so, for these users, there are no such roots to old technology. The truth is that we have become so addicted to our phones that we feel compelled to allow these interruptions, even to the point where we no longer even consider them interruptions. Just like an addiction to gambling and the alluring sounds of slot machines, we addictively react to the sounds our smartphone makes. Some have postulated that the theory of variable rewards could explain what makes us addicted to the digital world of Facebook, Twitter and the ringtone from a smartphone.

Nir Eyal has written about this technology addiction on this very blog, with specific attention to the nature of variable rewards. He describes a study by B.F. Skinner in the 1950s that demonstrated the theory of the variable schedule of rewards. Skinner observed that lab mice responded most voraciously to random rewards. When mice pressed a lever, they sometimes got a small treat, other times a large treat, and other times nothing at all. Unlike other mice that received the same treat every time they pressed the lever, the mice that received variable rewards pressed the lever more often and compulsively.

Similar to how mice behave when expecting to receive treats, we eagerly check our phones at the slightest ring or buzz, because the dopamine trigger in our brains compels us to answer. The everyday mundane phone messages that we receive frequently throughout the day are akin to the mice's small treats. The big treats are the messages that give us pleasure - a message from a friend, a phone call from a loved one, or that funny video we must see. It's the big treat that is addictive to us and, since we don't know when that big treat is coming, we "press the lever" compulsively and as often as the ringtone calls us. We are compelled to look at the screen and answer, regardless of where we are and who we are with.

Of course this mobile device addiction goes further. There is a clear human need for self-expression - and especially self-expression that prompts feedback from others ( Signs of Facebook Addiction). Our need to immediately share sometimes causes us to forget to enjoy and embrace the moment. This point is illustrated clearly in the YouTube video " I forgot my iPhone," an exaggerated but accurate reflection of our social behavior. As social animals, we need human contact for emotional and psychological health. Our mobile devices have enhanced our ability to have that contact. They have become a tool important for social interaction.

There ARE Solutions to Mobile Device Addiction

There are many causes and effects of this mobile device addiction, which is also an issue with our computers and other communication devices. However, if we learn to manage this mobile device addiction, we can increase our productivity and free up time during the week. It is not only the wasted time that results when we allow ourselves to be interrupted, when staring at the screen, when replying to emails or answering the phone. We also lose valuable time recovering from these interruptions after our attention has been diverted.

This has become recognized as enough of a problem today that we are starting to see some technological solutions being developed, including research on context aware management of interruptions or guidelines for the workplace that could increase productivity For example, a Loughborough University study recommends a set of guidelines for email usage that will increase employee workplace efficiency by reducing interruptions, restricting the use of email-to-all messages and reply-to-all responses, setting the email application to display just the first three lines, and checking for email less frequently.

Freeing ourselves from this mobile device addiction will not be easy for many, but there are some technological solutions worth exploring. An android app called " Human Mode" allows the user to disconnect from his mobile phone and become human. It allows the user to place phone calls and messages on hold until a time that's more convenient. Jake Knapp's article in Lifehacker, " How I Turned My iPhone Into A Simple, Distraction-Free Device," describes how a one-week experiment to disconnect from distraction has now become his lifestyle. He makes the point that sometimes we must take serious action to resolve our addictions. But it has always been true that the first step in overcoming any addiction is to admit that it exists. If we identify how the variable rewards of our smartphones are affecting us, we can implement appropriate solutions and break the mobile device addiction.
Note: This guest essay was written by Avi Itzkovitch.
Photo Credit: Ron Bennetts

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The Real Reason You're Addicted to Your Phone

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Nir's Note: This guest post by Avi Itzkovitch offers some clues as to why we can't seem to put our cell phones down. Avi (@xgmedia) is an Independent User Experience Consultant. He is currently working from his Tel-Aviv Studio XG Media. Do you constantly check your smartphone to see if you've received messages or notifications on Facebook?

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what diseases may affect the human brain from cell phones?

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what diseases may affect the human brain from cell phones?

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This article talks about how using the phone can cause a disease in the human brain. A researcher see's the ways that a cellphone can cause that kind of disease and why. They test from using multiple of phone, and which way to use them, for example: speaker, placed by the ear, how close you are to the device, or how loud you have your earphones in your ear. She tested and got the results to it, and stuff that I read I couldn't believe it, but in this article it showed me my limitations to how use my cellular device.

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We all know that using a cell phone can stimulate the brain to work a bit harder. "Mr. Skerrett? This is Dr. LeWine's office. Do you have a minute to talk about your test results?" or "Dad, a bunch of kids are going to Casey's house after the dance. Can I go?" But a new study published in JAMA is making me wonder what the energy emitted by the phone itself, not just the information it delivers, is doing to my brain.

Here's the study in a nutshell. Dr. Nora Volkow and her colleagues recruited 47 volunteers to have their brain activity measured twice by a PET scanner. Both times the volunteer had a cell phone strapped to each ear. During one measurement, both phones were turned off. During the other, one phone was turned on but muted so the volunteer didn't know it was on; the other was left off. Each session lasted about an hour. The scans showed a small increase in the brain's use of glucose (blood sugar) when the phone was on, but only in parts of the brain close to the antenna.

It was an elegant study. The researchers took pains to anticipate sources of error. They used a control (both phones off) against which to compare the effect of a "live" cell phone. They used cell phones on each ear, one on and one off, to see if the effect was localized. They muted the phone that was on to eliminate the possibility that any brain activation was due to listening to the sound of a voice coming through the phone's speaker. So the result is probably a real one, not an artifact or measurement error.

What does this brain activation mean? No one really knows. As Dr. Volkow told NPR, "I cannot say if it is bad that they [cell phones] are increasing glucose metabolism, or if it could be good."

The big worry, of course, is brain cancer, not brain activation. It's a controversial and hotly debated topic. But with conflicting evidence linking cell phone use with brain cancer, this study will probably push the debate in both directions. Some will see the results as reassuring-the brain activation during the 50 minutes the one cell phone was on was less than that seen when you open your eyes or listen to music. Others will see the brain activation as a possible early step toward cancer.

I'm with Dr. Volkow and others who think that this study means it's worth taking a closer look at how the energy radiated by a cell phone, a mobile phone, or any other energy-emitting device we hold next to our heads affects the brain. I'm also going to avoid 50-minute conversations by cell phone (the duration in the study) and save those for when I'm using a head set or my old-fashioned, noncordless land line.

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Cell phone use stimulates brain activity - Harvard Health Blog

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An elegant new study showing that a cell phone can stimulate brain activity is certain to heat up the debate about whether or not cell phone use is linked to cancer.

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Can cellular phones change our way of thinking ?

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Can cellular phones change our way of thinking ?

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Cell phones are now preventing these social skills from being taught because children are too caught up in technology than the real world. Since our face-to-face conflict is so limited, it causes us to be anti-social and lose patience quickly. Cell phones allow us to have immediate access to information and when we have to wait more than a split second for something we start to get anxious.

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Mobile phones have changed the world, for better or worse

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Alex Clark: In 30 years, the cellphone has transformed our lives, but all that innovation can be a mixed blessing

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A person who is moody and temperamental may be more likely to be addicted to their cell phone than more stable individuals,
they wrote in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
Much like a variety of substance addictions, cellphone addiction may be an attempt at mood repair.
Incessant checking of emails, sending texts, tweeting, and surfing the web may act as pacifiers for the unstable individual distracting him or herself from the worries of the day and providing solace, albeit temporarily, from such concerns.

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London - If you find yourself constantly fiddling with your phone and checking for updates, you may be trying to alter your mood, a new study claims.

People who can't put down their cellphones are more prone to moodiness and temperamental behaviour, according to researchers.

They have found a link between phone addiction and emotional instability, as well as a reduced ability to focus on the task at hand.

Scientists from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, said that individuals who relentlessly check their phone may be trying to improve how they feel emotionally.

'A person who is moody and temperamental may be more likely to be addicted to their cell phone than more stable individuals,' they wrote in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

'Much like a variety of substance addictions, cellphone addiction may be an attempt at mood repair.

'Incessant checking of emails, sending texts, tweeting, and surfing the web may act as pacifiers for the unstable individual distracting him or herself from the worries of the day and providing solace, albeit temporarily, from such concerns.'

For the study, the researchers recruited 346 men and women between the ages of 19 to 24, and with an average age of 21.

They assessed the volunteers' personalities and level of mobile phone addiction by analysing their answers to a detailed questionnaire.

As well as emotional instability, the researchers found that 'attention impulsiveness' - defined as a person's inability to concentrate on the topic at hand - had a significant link with cellphone addiction.

They also discovered that quieter, more introverted people were less likely to be hooked on their technology than more outgoing individuals.

'Those who express feelings of shyness and bashfulness may be less likely to become dependent on their cell phones than their more extroverted counterparts,' they said.

Another study by the same university, which was published last year, found that 60 per cent of students felt agitated if they couldn't access their phone.

On average, the students spent 95 minutes a day texting, 49 minutes emailing and 39 minutes checking Facebook on their phone.

Some were spending ten hours a day on them, the study revealed.

Daily Mail

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How your phone affects your moods | IOL Entertainment

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London - If you find yourself constantly fiddling with your phone and checking for updates, you may be trying to alter your mood, a new study claims. People who can't put down their cellphones are more prone to moodiness and temperamental behaviour, according to researchers.