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Storms hit Hawaii hard on Tuesday.  The storms caused floods, mudslides and there was even snow in some areas.  The rain was heavy with strong winds.

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The threat of dangerous floods and landslides continues after an unusually powerful storm hit the Hawaiian islands. The lives lost in the attack on Pearl Harbor are honored. And is math education racist?

👋 It's Julius here with Tuesday's news.

But first, which words have you been saying wrong? Here are the most mispronounced terms of the year, according to the U.S. Captioning Company.
Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning. The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here or text messages here.
Storm slams Hawaiian islands

An unusually powerful storm battered the Hawaiian islands on Tuesday, leaving thousands without power and flooding streets across the archipelago. The weather left tourists stranded, including several who canceled wedding plans, and some of the islands' most iconic beaches barren as the threat of dangerous flash floods, landslides and crashing tree limbs persisted. It also brought as much as 8 inches of snow atop some of the state's highest summits. The conditions forced Gov. David Ige to issue a state of emergency for all of the state's islands Monday night.

Remembering Pearl Harbor, an event that 'led to a changed world'

Tuesday marked eight decades since the shocking attack on Pearl Harbor. The date that changed the course of a nation was marked by about 35 military survivors who gathered at multiple events. When hundreds of Japanese planes bombed American service members and civilians on U.S. soil on Dec. 7, 1941, America was an "isolated, quiet, withdrawn" nation said Craig Nelson, author of the 2016 book "Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness." The events of that day launched America's involvement in World War II, beginning decades of growing global U.S. influence. Each year, the National Memorial marks Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day by commemorating how "December 7 was a catalyst that led to a changed world."

What everyone's talking about
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Biden warns Putin against Ukraine invasion

President Joe Biden emphasized his desire for a diplomatic solution to the U.S. conflict with Russia over Ukraine, but still had strong words for Russian President Vladimir Putin in a call on Tuesday. Biden's video call with Putin comes as U.S. intelligence reports a buildup of Russian troops on Ukraine's border. A senior administration official said the U.S. doesn't know whether Putin had decided to pursue further military escalation in Ukraine. "But we do know that he is putting in place the capacity to engage in such escalation should he decide to do so," the official said. If Russia proceeds, the U.S. and its European allies could order economic sanctions, the official said.

Is math racist? How subject's teaching could drastically change

Recommendations to make the subject more inclusive are blowing up the world of math education. Schools are collapsing gifted math "tracks" to put kids of all abilities in the same classes, and they're adding data science courses that carry the same prestige as calculus. The changes have pitted mathematicians and math educators against each other and sparked criticism from affluent parents. They've caused upheaval in California as professors, parents and teachers spar over proposed changes to its K-12 math framework. Opponents say the changes effectively dumb down math education, but advocates say math's teaching is full of inequity - and that's unacceptable.

Real quick

A moon mystery 🌑

For the past two years, China's Yutu 2 rover has been roaming the Von Karman crater on the far side of the moon. On the rover's 36th lunar day, it spotted a cube-shaped object on the horizon. Andrew Jones, a Space.com reporter tracking China's space endeavors, said officials called it a "mystery house." Though there is no actual answer for what the cube is, Jones says the most likely explanation is that it's actually a large boulder that appeared after an impact event. But China officials are intrigued by the object, and Yutu 2 will be traversing through the region to get closer to it.

A break from the news
This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Sign up for The Short List newsletter here. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Havoc in Hawaii

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The threat of dangerous floods and landslides continues after an unusually powerful storm hit the Hawaiian islands. The lives lost in the attack on Pearl Harbor are honored. And is math education racist? 👋 It's Julius here with Tuesday's news. But first, which words have you been saying wrong?

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What life is like in the ‘polar bear capital of the world’

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What life is like in the ‘polar bear capital of the world’

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It talks about how polar bears life are

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Grizzlies set new NBA margin of victory record in 73-point demolition of Thunder

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Grizzlies set new NBA margin of victory record in 73-point demolition of Thunder

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A new NBA margin of victory record was set on Thursday, as the Memphis Grizzlies obliterated the Oklahoma City Thunder 152-79 in Tennessee. The 73-point win beats the previous 68-point record set by the Cleveland Cavaliers which had stood for almost 30 years -- a 148-80 mauling of the Miami Heat on December 17, 1991.

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Spurs withstand Warriors' rally for 112-107 victory

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Spurs withstand Warriors' rally for 112-107 victory

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South Africans brace for the worst amid Omicron surge

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South Africans brace for the worst amid Omicron surge

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South Africans are now bracing for what they fear will be another hard lock down, with many pandemic-weary businesses expressing little appetite for the crippling economic consequences of potential new restrictions.

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Blood pressure climbed during pandemic, especially among women, study suggests

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NYC to impose vaccine mandate on private sector employers; strict travel rules begin as US cases climb: COVID-19 updates

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NYC to impose vaccine mandate on private sector employers; strict travel rules begin as US cases climb: COVID-19 updates

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Honey bees survived for weeks under volcano ash after canary islands eruptions

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Honey bees survived for weeks under volcano ash after canary islands eruptions

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A beekeeper was very surprised to see that his honey bees survived the volcano.

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Honeybees Survived for Weeks Under Volcano Ash After Canary Islands Eruption

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For roughly 50 days, thousands of honeybees sealed themselves in their hives, away from deadly gas, and feasted on honey. “It is a very empowering story,” one entomologist said.

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people be liking going to europe because its the most beautiful town

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Mbappe reveals when he decided he wanted to leave PSG =0

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Mbappe reveals when he decided he wanted to leave PSG =0

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Mbappe decided to leave PSG while he was away with France at the Euro 2020. He did not plan on signing an extension to his current contract, which expires in the summer, as he wanted to join Real Madrid

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Set to become the world's second tallest building upon its completion next year, Merdeka 118 now stands higher than China's 2,073-foot Shanghai Tower and is dwarfed only by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

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Written by Oscar Holland, CNN

The spire of a soaring 118-story skyscraper has topped out at over 2,227 feet above Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Set to become the world's second tallest building upon its completion next year, Merdeka 118 now stands higher than China's 2,073-foot Shanghai Tower and is dwarfed only by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

At a ceremony marking the spire's completion on Tuesday, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob described the project as an "iconic tower for the future."

"This is not only a great achievement in the field of engineering," he told reporters. "But it also further strengthens Malaysia's position as a modern and developed country."

Comprising 3.1 million square feet of floor space, more than half of which will be offered as offices, the tower will also house a mall, a mosque, a Park Hyatt hotel and Southeast Asia's highest observation deck. The wider four-acre site will also contain public spaces and a park at ground level.

Set in a historic part of Kuala Lumpur, the skyscraper overlooks the Stadium Merdeka, where former leader Tunku Abdul Rahman declared Malaysian independence in 1957. Ismail Sabri, who was named prime minister in August, said on Tuesday that the sculptural design "reflects the image" of Rahman famously raising his hand to shout "merdeka!" (Malay for "independent!") more than six decades ago.

The Australian architecture practice behind the project, Fender Katsalidis, said the triangular glass planes on the building's facade were inspired by patterns found in Malaysian arts and crafts. The design also "symbolically (represents) the rich cultural mix that defines the people of the country," the firm said in a press release.

In a statement, one of the company's founding partners, Karl Fender, added that the building was designed to enrich "the social energy and cultural fabric of the city."

"In addition, the achievement of creating the second tallest building in the world celebrates the years of planning, problem-solving, collaboration and human endeavor required to realize a building of this complexity," he is quoted as saying. "Achieving this height milestone is a welcome bonus."

Announced in 2010, the project broke ground five years ago, despite concerns voiced by some local heritage campaigners about the impact it could have on the historic neighborhood.

Though the building was expected to open this year, work was temporarily halted in March 2020 when the Malaysian government introduced strict lockdown measures to combat the spread of Covid-19.

Kuala Lumpur's skyline has been transformed by skyscrapers in recent decades, and the Malaysian capital is now the 13th tallest city in the world, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The 1,483-foot Petronas Towers stood as the world's tallest buildings between 1998 and 2004, when they were surpassed by Taiwan's Taipei 101.

In 2019, the 106-story Exchange 106 became Kuala Lumpur's -- and Southeast Asia's -- then-tallest skyscraper, despite being embroiled in the 1MDB financial controversy that landed the country's former prime minister, Najib Razak, with criminal charges including money laundering and abuse of power.

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merdeka 118: world's second tallest building tops out in malaysia - cnn

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World's second tallest building tops out in Malaysia

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Written by Oscar Holland, CNN The spire of a soaring 118-story skyscraper has topped out at over 2,227 feet above Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur. Set to become the world's second tallest building upon its completion next year, Merdeka 118 now stands higher than China's 2,073-foot Shanghai Tower and is dwarfed only by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

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 A man shot his neighbor                                             Abi Macias Mendoza     

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 A man shot his neighbor                                             Abi Macias Mendoza     

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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/white-man-shot-black-neighbor-missouri-claiming-self-defense-neighbors-rcna6330
Abi Macias Mendoza
A story about a man that shot his neighbor.

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The fatal shooting of a Black man in a trailer park is rocking a rural community in Missouri as neighbors who say they witnessed the killing dispute the police narrative of events.

Justin King, a 28-year-old Black and Filipino man, was shot Nov. 3 at 11:45 a.m.in the small town of Bourbon, located about 73 miles southwest of St. Louis.

Police say he was shot by the owner of a home he was trying to break into, but witnesses and family members say he was shot in "cold blood" by a man he called his friend.

King succumbed to his wounds at the scene. The 42-year-old white neighbor who shot him was taken into custody and later released.

The Crawford County Sheriff's Department said King was shot "after forcing entry into a neighboring residence where an altercation took place." The homeowner "feared for his life" and shot King, the department said in a news release.

The department said evidence, video surveillance and statements "preliminarily corroborate the homeowner's account of the events."

But family members of King and five people who live in the trailer park told NBC News they doubt that narrative.

Three neighbors told NBC News the shooter was a man who had expressed a desire to kill someone, has a history of violence and was known to use racial epithets. Several neighbors said King and the shooter were friends.

Nimrod Chapel Jr., the president of the Missouri NAACP, who is representing the King family, said Justin King was shot outside the neighbor's home and had not entered it, contrary to the sheriff's account.

"The only person that says it's a home invasion is the guy that shot my son," King's father, John King, told NBC News. "And all the neighbors are saying, 'No, you shot him in cold blood outside.'"

"He had no shirt on, only pajama bottoms. So how was he a threat?" John King said. "Justin was shot in cold blood outside in broad daylight."

Under Missouri's "castle doctrine" law, individuals are allowed to use deadly force against intruders without the duty to retreat, based on the notion that their home is "their castle."

The shooter, whose name has not been made public and who is not facing charges, did not reply to NBC News' request for comment.

Neighbors described King as a happy-go-lucky man who always offered a helping hand. He had moved to Bourbon from St. Louis recently to be close to his 9-year-old daughter, Harlee.

Lesa Stiller, the manager of the trailer park, said she saw King outside heading toward the neighbor's trailer moments before the shooting. All of a sudden, she heard a "pop, pop, pop."

"And right at that last pop, I saw Justin slowly stagger backwards real slow with his hands up in the air," near the outdoor front steps of the shooter's trailer, Stiller recalled. She noted that she didn't see King enter the trailer itself and that King and the shooter lived across from each other.

"I heard him say, 'I thought we were friends.' And [the neighbor] said, 'We were!' and he just slowly walked back," she said.

Another neighbor, Katie Bosek, described King as "a gentle man who helped everybody." She said he helped her search for her dogs that went missing the same day as the shooting. Later that day, King and the neighbor who shot him worked together to fix her car, she said.

"They both got under the hood together. They're just cutting it up laughing as they're doing it," she said.

She claimed she saw King and the neighbor walk off together. She said she heard three gunshots about 15 minutes later and rushed to the window to see King lying on the ground.

Trina Willson, who lives several trailers behind the shooter, said: "He knew Justin. You would think that if your friend was coming into your house, you'd be like, 'Hey, man, what are you doing?' Why do you automatically resort to pulling out a gun and shooting him? How can this even possibly go down as self-defense?"

Chapel noted that the neighbor and King had cameras at their homes. Police have not released any video footage from the incident to the public or the family but said they have "viewed all videos at our disposal." The Crawford County Sheriff's Department said it intends to share the footage "upon the final case review by the county prosecutor."

King's death has torn apart the close-knit community in the small town of Bourbon, home to 1,600 residents.

"It's been crazy here since that. We've never had nothing like that in this little small town since I've been here in 20 years," Earl McCoy, another neighbor, said. "We take care of each other in here. It's been eerily quiet here. It was like a ghost town."

Three people who live in the park said the neighbor who shot King had threatened violence before.

Stiller said the neighbor was known to show off his gun - including once at a party she threw on Oct. 30.

"He never went anywhere without that .32 in his belt," she said.

Bosek recalled that King told her months before the shooting that the neighbor had threatened to shoot him.

"Justin came over about two months prior to all this happening. He was like, 'You know he threatened to shoot me? Yeah, that dude threatened to shoot me,'" she said. "Justin was such a good guy. He would always forgive people and keep going back."

McCoy said the shooter "had guns all over his house."

"The last time I talked to [the neighbor] was at a party on Halloween when he showed everybody his little pistol," McCoy said. "He said, 'I don't fight no more; I shoot motherf------.'"

King's father believes the shooting was an act of "racially motivated hate" and said his son was the only Black person in that trailer community.

Two neighbors also said the shooter was known to use racial slurs.

"He was always open with the N-word. He never said 'Black man,'" Stiller said.

"He would blurt [racial epithets] out. He wouldn't call it to Justin if he was standing around me and Justin because he knows I'd knock his a-- off," McCoy said.

The neighbor who shot King has a criminal record involving violence. He was arrested in June 2017 and charged with second-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon while intoxicated, both felonies, according to court records.

Court records do not show if those charges were dismissed. The Crawford County court clerk declined to comment, and the Crawford County prosecutor's office did not respond to NBC News' request for comment on those charges.

Federal law generally prohibits people from possessing firearms if they have been convicted of a felony, according to Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Further, Missouri also prohibits possession of a firearm by any person convicted of a felony under Missouri law.

John King said he was outraged to see sheriff's deputies escorting the shooter back to his trailer the day after his son's death.

The family, along with local activists, are calling out the sheriff's department and demanding a thorough investigation.

"I feel, like, betrayed by all the police," King's mother, Eva Bruns, said. "They're not being fair. I don't know if it's because of color or because of the way the killer is."

"In the investigation, nothing has been done," she said. "Twenty-four hours later and he's out of jail. I don't know what kind of justice that is."

Crawford County Sheriff Darin Layman said in a statement that all the information shared thus far in the case is "accurate in relation to our investigation and findings."

"Our office has not uncovered any evidence to support the idea that this was a racially motivated incident," he said. "We have contacted the FBI regarding this investigation and requested their assistance in processing a portion of the evidence collected."

The FBI in Missouri declined to comment on the case.

Now the family is focusing on getting answers on what happened in the build-up to King's death.

"The family wants to make sure that whoever is responsible for the death of their son is held accountable," Chapel, the King family's lawyer, said. "But right now we just settle for the disclosure of the truth."

So far, no lawsuit has been filed in the case, but Chapel said, "I wouldn't rule anything out at this point."

Chapel said the lack of action in King's case is part of a statewide problem when it comes to investigating the deaths of African Americans, pointing to the cases of Tory Sanders and Derontae Martin.

Sanders, 28, a Black inmate at a rural jail, died in May 2017 under similar circumstances to George Floyd, after a white law enforcement officer pressed his knee on his neck, according to a wrongful death suit filed by his family. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt declined to file charges in his death.

Martin, 19, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head on April 25 at the home of a white man who had posted racist memes on social media. Authorities concluded that he died by suicide, but in July, a jury of six people ruled during a coroner's inquest hearing that Martin was killed by violence.

"That's Jim Crow justice," Chapel said. "This is a statewide issue. In Justin's case, they allege that there's an investigation, but then they produce the results of the investigation before the investigation is complete. What kind of police work is that?"

Missouri's NAACP chapter issued a travel advisory in 2017 that remains in effect today warning people to travel with caution in the state because "race, gender and color-based crimes have a long history in Missouri."

"What Missouri needs is to have some federal oversight to ensure that law enforcement is trying to treat people in the way that the Constitution demands, whether you're the alleged perpetrator of a crime or victim of a crime - that you have the same rights regardless of skin color," Chapel said.

On Nov. 16, the Crawford County Sheriff's Department said the investigation into King's death is still open and evidence is being processed and sent off for lab analysis. The department also said an informal case review was conducted with the Crawford County prosecutor's office, and there will be follow-ups with witnesses and evidence collection.

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A white man shot his Black neighbor in Missouri, claiming self-defense. Neighbors tell a different story.

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The fatal shooting of a Black man in a trailer park is rocking a rural community in Missouri as neighbors who say they witnessed the killing dispute the police narrative of events. Justin King, a 28-year-old Black and Filipino man, was shot Nov.

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John Miles was a 72 year old rock musician, he sadly passed away peacefully after a short illness.

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Pakistan: Killing of Sri Lankan accused of blasphemy sparks protests. (Alex)

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Pakistan: Killing of Sri Lankan accused of blasphemy sparks protests. (Alex)

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Rumors of a man allegedly tearing down posters with the name of the Prophet Muhammad stir up a large mob that kills him. The man's death brings upon many protests.

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Jussie Smollett, who is accused of lying to police about an alleged hate crime, has taken the stand in his own defense at his trial today.

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Jussie Smollett takes the stand in his own trial (Thomas)

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Jussie Smollett takes the stand in his own trial (Thomas)

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 Adamaris Marquez "Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a sweeping coronavirus vaccine mandate for all private employers in New York City 

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 Adamaris Marquez "Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a sweeping coronavirus vaccine mandate for all private employers in New York City 

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On Monday morning to combat the spread of the Omicron variant.Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a sweeping coronavirus vaccine mandate for all private employers in New York City on Monday morning to combat the spread of the Omicron variant.

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Abstract

This overview will outline the current results of neuroscience research on the possible effects of digital media use on the human brain, cognition, and behavior. This is of importance due to the significant amount of time that individuals spend using digital media. Despite several positive aspects of digital media, which include the capability to effortlessly communicate with peers, even over a long distance, and their being used as training tools for students and the elderly, detrimental effects on our brains and minds have also been suggested. Neurological consequences have been observed related to internet/gaming addiction, language development, and processing of emotional signals. However, given that much of the neuroscientific research conducted up to now relies solely on self-reported parameters to assess social media usage, it is argued that neuroscientists need to include datasets with higher precision in terms of what is done on screens, for how long, and at what age.

Keywords: addiction, adolescence, amygdala, attention, brain development, cognitive neuroscience, digital media, language development, prefrontal cortex

Abstract

Esta visión panorámica describirá los resultados actuales de la investigación en neurociencia acerca de los posibles efectos del empleo de los medios digitales sobre el cerebro, la cognición y el comportamiento humano. Esto es importante debido a la gran cantidad de tiempo que las personas utilizan en los medios digitales. A pesar de varios aspectos positivos de los medios digitales, que incluyen la capacidad de comunicarse sin esfuerzo con sus compañeros, incluso a larga distancia y su utilización como herramientas de capacitación para estudiantes y ancianos, también se han sugerido efectos perjudiciales para el cerebro y la mente. Se han observado consecuencias neurológicas relacionadas con la adicción a internet / juegos, el desarrollo del lenguaje y el procesamiento de señales emocionales. Sin embargo, considerando que gran parte de la investigación de neurociencia realizada hasta la fecha se basa únicamente en parámetros auto-reportados para evaluar el empleo de las redes sociales, se argumenta que los neurocientistas deben incluir conjuntos de datos con mayor precisión en términos de lo que se hace en las pantallas, durante cuánto tiempo y a qué edad.

Résumé

Les résultats actuels de la recherche en neurosciences sur les effets potentiels de l'utilisation des médias numériques sur le cerveau, la cognition et le comportement, présentés dans cet article sont importants compte tenu du temps considérable que les individus consacrent à ces médias. Malgré les avantages que procurent ces outils, comme le fait de pouvoir communiquer sans effort et sans tenir compte des distances géographiques, de servir d'outil d'apprentissage aux étudiants et d'activités aux personnes âgées, des effets néfastes sur nos cerveaux et nos esprits ont eux aussi été constatés. Des conséquences neurologiques liées à la dépendance à Internet et aux jeux vidéo, au développement du langage et au traitement des signaux émotionnels sont observées. Toutefois, une grande partie de la recherche neuroscientifique menée jusqu'à présent étant basée uniquement sur des paramètres autodéclarés pour évaluer l'usage des réseaux sociaux, les neuroscientifiques devraient inclure des données plus précises en termes de nature de pratique sur les écrans, de temps consacré et d'âge des utilisateurs.

Introduction

One hundred eleven years ago, E. M. Forster published a short story (The Machine Stops, 1909, The Oxford and Cambridge Review ) about a futuristic scenario in which a mysterious machine controls everything, from food supply to information technologies. In a situation that evokes internet and digital media events of today, in this dystopia, all communication is remote and face-to-face meetings no longer happen. The machine controls the mindset, as it makes everybody dependent on it. In the short story, when the machine stops working, society collapses.

The story raises many questions, still relevant today, about the impact of digital media and related technology on our brains. This issue of Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience explores in a multifaceted manner how, by what means, and with what possible effects digital media use affects brain function-for the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of human existence.

Overall, digital media use, from online gaming to smartphone/tablet or internet use, has revolutionized societies worldwide. In the UK alone, according to data collected by a regulatory agency for communication (Ofcom), 95% of people aged 16 to 24 years old own a smartphone and check it on average every 12 minutes. Estimates suggest that 20% of all adults are online more than 40 hours per week. There is no doubt that digital media, most of all the internet, are becoming important aspects of our modern life. Nearly 4.57 billion people worldwide have access to the internet, according to data published December 31, 2019 on the webpage http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm. The speed of change is astonishing, with an exponential increase in the last decade. How and at what possible costs and/or benefits can our brain and mind adapt?

Indeed, concerns about the effects of digital media use on brain function and structure, as well as physical and mental health, education, social interaction, and politics, are increasing. In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) published strict guidelines about children's screen time. And-announced a law (Assembly Bill 272) that permits schools to restrict smartphone usage. These actions were taken after results were published implicating intensive digital media use in reducing working memory capacity ; in psychological problems, from depression to anxiety and sleep disorders ; and in influencing the level of text comprehension while reading on screens. The latter is a rather surprising example showing that reading complex stories or interconnected facts in a printed book leads to better recall of the story, of details, and of the connection between facts than reading the same text on screen. The reason for the astonishing results, considering that the words on a light emitting diode (LED) screen or in a printed book are the same, seems to be related to how we use associations of facts with spatial and other sensory cues: the location on a page in a book we read something in addition, for instance, to the fact that each book smells differently seems to boost recall. In addition, the language scientist Naomi Baron, cited in an article by Makin, argues that reading habits are different in such a way that digital environments lead to superficial engagement in text analysis. This possibly depends on the fact that most digital media users glance at and multitask from one item to the next-a habit that might reduce attention span and contribute to the fact that diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is higher than it was 10 years ago. Is this just a correlation or does it indicate that multitasking with digital media contributes to, or even causes, the higher incidence of ADHD? Two arguments support the hypothesis that intensive digital media use is related to impairments in working memory: simply seeing a smartphone (not even using it) lowers working memory capacity and leads to decreased performance in cognitive tasks, due to the fact that part of the working memory resources are busy ignoring the phone. In addition, the more that people use their smartphones in a multitasking modus (switching quickly between different engagements of the mind), the easier they respond to distraction and indeed perform more poorly in task-switching exams than users who rarely try to multitask. The results have been disputed (see ref 10), and this discrepancy in results might be related to the fact that digital media per se are neither good nor bad for our minds; it is rather how we use digital media. What we use smartphones or any other digital media for and how often are the important parameters to analyze, a point often ignored in this discussion.

Brain plasticity related to the use of digital media

The most straightforward and simple approach to elucidating whether digital media use has a profound effect on the human brain is to explore whether the use of fingertips on touchscreens changes cortical activity in the motor or the somatosensory cortex. Gindrat et al used this approach. It was already known that cortical space assigned to the tactile receptors on fingertips is influenced by how often the hand is used. For example, string instrument players have more cortical neurons of the somatosensory cortex allotted to the fingers they use in playing the instrument. This so-called "cortical plasticity of sensory representation" is not limited to musicians; for example, it also occurs with often-repeated grasp movements. As repeated finger movements occur with use of touchscreen smartphones, Gindrat et al used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure cortical potentials resulting from touching tips of the thumb, middle, or index fingers of touchscreen phone users and control subjects who used only non-touch-sensitive mobile phones. Indeed, the results were remarkable, as only touchscreen users showed an increase in the cortical potentials from the thumb and also for the index fingertips. These responses were statistically highly significantly correlated to the intensity of use. For the thumb, the size of cortical representation was correlated even with the day-to-day fluctuations in touchscreen use. These results clearly demonstrate that repetitive use of touchscreens can reshape somatosensory processing in fingertips, and they also indicate that such representation in the thumb can change within a short time frame (days), depending on use.

Taken together, this shows that intensive touchscreen use can reorganize the somatosensory cortex. Therefore, one can conclude that cortical processing is continuously shaped via digital media use. What was not investigated but should be explored in the future is whether such expansion of cortical representation in the fingertips and thumb occurred at the expense of other motor coordination skills. This response is of tremendous importance considering that motor skills are inversely correlated with screen time, due to either competition between cortical space and motor programs or because of an overall lack of exercise (eg, see ref 17).

Influences on the developing brain

Effect on motor skills is one aspect to consider with digital media use, other aspects are effects on language, cognition, and perception of visual objects in the developing brain. In this respect, it is remarkable that Gomez et al showed that details of the development of the visual system can be affected by the content of digital media. To explore this, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to scan brain from adult subjects who had played the game Pokémon intensively when they were children. It was already known that object and face recognition is achieved in higher visual areas of the ventral visual stream, mainly in the ventral temporal lobe. Typical Pokémon figures are a mixture of animal-like humanized characters and are a unique type of object otherwise not visible in human environments. Only adults with intensive Pokémon experience during childhood showed distinct distributed cortical responsiveness to Pokémon figures in the ventral temporal lobe near face-recognition areas. These data-as a proof of principle-indicate that digital media use can lead to a unique functional and long-lasting representation of digital figures and objects even decades later. Surprisingly, all Pokémon players showed the same functional topography

in the ventral visual stream for Pokémon figures. Also, here it is not clear whether these data simply show the tremendous plasticity of the brain to add new representations for novel classes of objects to the higher visual areas or whether object representation from intensive digital media use might have negative consequences for face recognition and processing as a consequence of competition for cortical space. In this respect, it is noteworthy that in empathy studies in young adults, a correlation between time spent with digital media and a lower cognitive empathy with other humans has been reported. Whether due to lack of insight into what other people might think (theory of mind) or to problems with facial recognition or lack of exposure to peers (due to excessive online time) is not currently clear. It should be emphasized that some studies reported no correlation between online time and empathy (for reviews, see refs 22 and 23).

Another area of interest is whether the development of processes related to language (semantics and grammar) is by any means affected by intensive digital media use. It is in this respect worrisome that early extensive screen use in preschoolers can have dramatic influences on language networks, as shown by sophisticated diffusion tensor MRI ( Figure 1). This method provides estimates of white-matter integrity in the brain. In addition, cognitive tasks were tested in preschool children. This was measured in a standardized way by using a 15-item screening tool for observers (ScreenQ), which reflects the screen-based media recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). ScreenQ scores were then statistically correlated with the diffusion tensor MRI measurement and with cognitive test scores, controlling for age, gender, and household income. Overall, a clear correlation was observed between intensive early childhood digital amedia use and poorer microstructural integrity of white-matter tracts, especially between the Broca and Wernicke areas in the brain ( Figure 1 ). Language comprehension and capacity are highly correlated with the development of these fiber tracts, as reviewed in Grossee et al and Skeide and Friederici. In addition, lower executive functions and lower literacy abilities were observed, even when age and the average household income were matched. Also, digital media use correlated with significantly lower scores in behavioral measures for executive functions. The authors conclude : "Given that screen-based media use is ubiquitous and increasing in children in home, childcare, and school settings, these findings suggest the need for further study to identify the implications for the developing brain, particularly during stages of dynamic brain growth in early childhood." This study indicates that reading skills might be compromised if fiber tracts between the language areas are not developed to their full extent. Considering that reading ability in children is an excellent predictor of school success, it would also be beneficial to study if ScreenQ scores correlate to school success or to how traditional reading in books compares with reading on screens, in e-books, and on web pages.

Besides the development of language areas, reading habits might change with the use of electronic media. This change might have implications for new readers and for individuals with reading disabilities. Indeed, this has been explored recently. Here, fMRI was used when children listened to three similar stories in audio, illustrated, or animated format, followed by a test of factual recall. Within- and between-network functional connectivity was compared across formats involving the following: visual perception, visual imagery, language, default mode network (DMN), and cerebellar association. For illustration relative to audio, functional connectivity was decreased within the language network and increased between visual, DMN, and cerebellar networks, suggesting decreased strain on the language network afforded by pictures and visual imagery. Between-network connectivity was decreased for all networks for animation relative to the other formats, particularly illustration, suggesting a bias toward visual perception at the expense of network integration. These findings suggest substantial differences in functional brain network connectivity for animated and more traditional story formats in preschool-age children, reinforcing the appeal of illustrated storybooks at this age to provide efficient scaffolding for language. In addition, deep reading can be influenced by digital media. This shift in reading pattern may threaten the development of deep reading skills in young adults.

A particularly important time for brain development is adolescence, a period when brain areas involved in emotional and social aspects are undergoing intensive changes. Social media might have a profound effect on the adolescent brain due to the fact they allow adolescents to interact with many peers at once without meeting them directly. And indeed, published data indicate a different mode of processing emotions in adolescents, which is highly correlated to the intensity of social media use. This has been shown in the gray matter volume of the amygdala, which processes emotions ( Figure 2 ). This suggests an important interplay between actual social experiences in online social networks and brain development. Emotion precedence, peer conformity, or acceptance sensitivity might make teenagers in particular vulnerable to fake or shocking news, as well as unlikely self-expectations, or vulnerable as regards regulation of emotions due to unfavorable use of digital media. What is missing here are longitudinal studies to elucidate whether the adolescent brain is differently shaped by social network size online instead of direct personal interaction.

As a side note, the evidence that violent games do have a profound effect on human behavior is better defined. A meta-analysis of current papers shows that exposure to violent video games is a highly significant risk factor for increased aggressive behavior and for a decrease in empathy and lower levels of prosocial behavior.

Synaptic plasticity

Principally, the study described above supports the notion of high brain plasticity induced by intensive use of digital media. In detail, the effects observed are amazing, but overall, it has been previously shown that the brain changes its functional and structural connectivity with usage, in other words, due to learning, habits, and experience. To judge this effect on the quality of human cognition and health, the question is more whether our brains-by using digital media extensively-are working in a certain cognitive mode, perhaps at the expense of others that are important. The effects of the brain's potential to adjust its functional and structural connectivity has been demonstrated in many neuroimaging studies with humans ; for a review, see ref 38. Other studies, including one by Maguire in London taxi drivers, and studies in pianists (as mentioned above) and jugglers show that intensive usage can stimulate the growth of new synaptic connections ("use it") while at the same time eliminating neuronal synaptic connections that are used less often ("lose it").

On the cellular level, this phenomenon has been named synaptic plasticity, reviewed by Korte and Schmitz. It is by now widely accepted that neurons in human cortex and hippocampus, as well as in subcortical areas, are highly plastic, meaning that changes in neuronal activity patterns, for example, generated by intensive training, change synaptic function as well as synaptic structure. Activity-dependent synaptic plasticity alters the efficacy of synaptic transmission (functional plasticity) and modifies the structure and number of synaptic connections (structural plasticity). Synaptic plasticity builds the foundation for adjusting the postnatal brain in response to experience and is the cellular implementation for learning and memory processes, as suggested in 1949 from Donald O. Hebb. He proposed that changes in neuronal activity due to usage, training, habit, or learning are stored in assemblies of neurons and not in single nerve cells. Plasticity by this means happens at the network level by altering the synapses between neurons and is therefore called activity-dependent synaptic plasticity. Hebb's postulate also includes an important rule, predicting that synaptic strength changes when the pre- and postsynaptic neurons show coincident activity (associativity), and this changes the input/output characteristic of neuronal assemblies. Only if these are activated together again can they be remembered. Important is that the synaptic response to a certain brain activity of a given intensity is enhanced; for further details see Magee and Grienberger. This implies that all human activity performed on a regular basis- including use of digital media, social networks, or simply the internet-will have an imprint on the brain, whether for the good, the bad, or the ugly side of human cognitive function depends on the activity itself, or whether it occurs at the expense of other activities. In this respect, linking multitasking mode with cellular synaptic plasticity, Sajikumar et al showed that activation of three inputs impinging on the same neuronal population within a narrow time window (as is the case of humans trying to multitask) leads to the arbitrary strengthening of inputs, and not necessarily the strongest. This means the storage of relevant facts may be compromised if the input to a neuronal network in a particular brain area exceeds its limit of processing power.

Digital media impact on the aging brain

The effects and possible negative or positive aspects of digital media use, culture, and interaction might not only depend on total consumption time and the cognitive domain involved; it might also depend on age. Thus, the negative effects on preschoolers, as reported by Hutton et al, might be quite different from those seen with usage in adults (like addiction) or to the effects observed in the elderly. Therefore, training of the aged brain with digital media might have different consequences than screen time for preschoolers or permanent distraction in adults.

Aging is not only genetically determined, but also dependent on lifestyle and on how the brain is used and trained; for example, see ref 47. One successful attempt involving digital media resulted in an increased attention span in elderly subjects through training response inhibition via computer games. Here, the training was done on a tablet for just 2 months, and significant cognitive effects on lateral inhibition were observed in comparison with a control group. These results correlated with growth processes, seen as greater cortical thickness in the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) triangularis, a brain area associated with lateral inhibition. These effects, probably mediated via processes of structural plasticity depend on time spent performing the training task: the results became better in linear correlation with training time. Overall, it can be summarized that game-based digital training programs might foster cognition in the elderly and is in line with other studies showing that attention training is mediated via increasing the activity in the frontal lobe. Other studies have supported these results by showing that computer training is a possible means to train the brain in older people (>65 years of age), and brain training programs can assist in promoting healthy cognitive aging (see also ref 53). It will be exciting to probe whether digital media in the future can be used in the elderly to preserve or even increase cognitive capacities, such as attention, that suffer after intensive digital media/multitasking use at younger ages.

Mechanism of addiction and digital media use

In addition to classical substance-use disorders, behavioral addictions are also classified as addictive behavior. The WHO now includes internet-use disorder (IUD) or internet gaming disorder/internet addiction (IGD) in the International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD-11) , which might in the future also include "smartphone-use disorder" as a behavioral addiction (https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en). Addiction is characterized as a chronic relapsing disorder, depicted by compulsion to seek and use either a substance or a behavior, like gambling. In addition, it includes loss of control in limiting certain behaviors or drug intake, and mostly is associated with the emergence of negative emotions (eg, anxiety, irritability, or dysphoria,) in situations where the drug or behavior is not attainable. Neurologically, addiction is characterized by overall network changes in frontostriatal and frontocingulate circuits. These are also the hallmarks for IGD/IUD addiction. Adolescents in particular might be at risk. For a systematic and more detailed meta-analysis of functional and structural brain changes related to IGD, see the following reviews by Yao et al and D'Hondt et al.

It is also noteworthy that some studies found a correlation between brain anatomy alterations and social networking site (SNS) addiction. It specifically shows that intensive interactions with social media can be correlated to gray-matter alteration of brain areas involved in addictive behavior. Also, other studies reported that intense use of social media can lead to a profound effect on neuronal structures in the human brain, as reviewed in ref 32. Overall, the implications of these data are that neuroscience and psychology research should turn more attention toward the understanding and prevention of online addiction disorders or other maladaptive behaviors related to gaming and social network use.

Neuroenhancement with electronic devices

So far, we have discussed digital media, but electronic devices in general can also be used to directly stimulate the human brain. The difficulty here is that the human brain is not a simple Turing machine, and the algorithm it uses is less clear. For this reason, it is unlikely that our brains can be reprogrammed by digital technologies and that simple stimulation of certain brain areas will increase cognitive abilities. However, deep-brain stimulation as a treatment option for Parkinson disease, depression, or addiction is a different story. Additionally, research on so-called brain/machine interfaces (BMIs) has shown that with regard to motor functions and the assimilation of artificial tools, eg, robotic/avatar extremities, incorporation in the somatosensory representation of the brain is possible. This works partly because neurons learn to represent artificial devices via processes of activity-dependent synaptic plasticity. This illustrates that, indeed, our sense of self can be altered by electronic technologies to incorporate external devices. Nicolelis and colleagues have recently demonstrated that such an extension of the sense of body in paralyzed patients trained to use BMI devices could allow them to steer the movements of artificial avatar bodies, leading to a clinically relevant recovery.

This does not mean that the human brain can mimic the binary logic or even the algorism of digital devices, but it highlights how digital machines and digital media could have a huge impact on our mental skills and behavior (discussed in depth by Carr ). This impact is also highlighted by the effect of online cloud storage and search engines on human memory performance. A paradigmatic example is a study in which digital natives were made to believe that facts they had been asked to memorize would be stored in online cloud storage. Under this assumption, they performed more poorly than subjects that expected to have to rely only on their own brain memory function (mainly in the temporal lobe), as fMRI
analysis illuminated. These results suggest that subcontracting some simple mental searches to internet cloud storage and relying on search engines instead of memory systems in our own brain reduces our ability to memorize and recall
facts in a reliable manner.

Human well-being and multitasking

Addiction and neuroenhancement are particular effects of digital media and electronic devices. More common are the effects of multitasking on attention span, concentration, and the capacity of working memory. Processing multiple and continuous incoming streams of information is certainly a challenge for our brains. A series of experiments addressed whether there are systematic differences in information processing styles between chronically heavy and light media multitaskers (MMTs). The results indicate that heavy MMTs are more susceptible to interference from what are considered irrelevant external stimuli or representations in their memory systems. This led to the surprising result that heavy MMTs performed worse on a task-switching ability test, probably due to reduced ability to filter out interference from irrelevant stimuli. This demonstrates that multitasking, a rapidly growing behavioral trend, is associated with a distinct approach to fundamental information processing. Uncapher et al summarize the consequences of intense multimedia use as follows: "American youth spend more time with media than any other waking activity: an average of 7.5 hours per day, every day. On average, 29% of that time is spent juggling multiple media streams simultaneously (ie, media multitasking). Given that a large number of MMTs are children and young adults whose brains are still developing, there is great urgency to understand the neurocognitive profiles of MMTs."

On the other hand, it will obviously be important to understand what information processing is necessary for effective learning within the environment of the 21 st century. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that heavy digital MMTs show poorer memory function, increased impulsivity, less empathy, and a higher amount of anxiety. On the neurological side, they show a reduced volume in the anterior cingulate cortex. In addition, current data indicate that switching quickly between different tasks (multitasking) during digital media use can negatively affect academic outcomes. However, one needs to be careful in the interpretation of these results because, as the direction of causality is not clear, media multitasking behavior might also appear more pronounced in people with reduced prefrontal activity and shorter attention span to start with. Here, longitudinal studies are needed. The overall impact of online social media on our natural social skills (from empathy to theory of other people's minds) is another realm in which we may experience how and to what extent digital media affects our thinking and sensory processing of social signals. Of many studies, one by Turkle should be highlighted here. Turkle used interviews with teenagers or adults who were heavy users of social media and other kinds of virtual environments. One of the outcomes of this study was that extreme use of social media and virtual reality environments can lead to an increase in risk of anxiety, fewer real social interactions, lack of social skills and human empathy, and difficulties in handling solitude. In addition, the people interviewed reported symptoms related to addiction to internet use and digital social media. This mental routine of being "always connected" to hundreds or even thousands of people might indeed be overburdening our brain areas related to social interaction by dramatically expanding the number of people with whom we can closely communicate. The evolutionary constraint might be a group size limit of approximately 150 individuals. This may be the reason for our increase in cortical volume, eg, chimpanzees interact regularly with 50 individuals, but it may also be the limit of what our brains can achieve. In contrast to this evolutionary constraint, we are more or less in continuous contact with a group of people that by far exceeds our neurobiological limit due to social media. What are the consequences of this cortical overtaxing? Anxiety and deficits in attention, cognition, and even memory? Or can we adapt? So far, we have more questions than answers.

Conclusion

The brain is affected by the way we use it. It is hardly a stretch to expect that intensive digital media use will change human brains due to processes of neuronal plasticity. But it is less clear how these new technologies will change human cognition (language skills, IQ, capacity of working memory) and emotional processing in a social context. One limitation is that many studies thus far did not take into account what humans are doing when they are online, what they are seeing, and what type of cognitive interaction is required during screen time. What is clear is that digital media do have an impact on human psychological well-being and cognitive performance, and this depends on total screen time and what people are actually doing in the digital environment. Over the past decade, more than 250 studies have been published trying to elucidate the impact of digital media use; most of these surveys used self-reporting questionnaires that for the most part did not take into account the vastly different activities people experienced online. However, the pattern of use and the total time spent online will have different effects on a person's health and behavior. Researchers need a more detailed multidimensional map of digital media use. In other words, what is desirable is a more precise measure of what people do when they are online or looking at a digital screen. Overall, the current situation cannot distinguish in most cases between causal effects and pure correlation. Important studies have been started, and the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD study) should be mentioned. It is orchestrated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and aims to explore the effect of environmental, social, genetic, and other biological factors affecting brain and cognitive development. The ABCD study will recruit 10 000 healthy children, ages 9 to 10 across the United States, and follow them into early adulthood; for details, see the website https://abcdstudy.org/. The study will include advanced brain imaging to visualize brain development. It will elucidate how nature and nurture interact and how this relates to developmental outcomes such as physical or mental health, and cognitive capabilities, as well as educational success. The size and scope of the study will allow scientists to identify individual developmental trajectories (eg, brain, cognitive, emotional, and academic) and the factors that can affect them, such as the effect digital media use will have on the developing brain.

What remains to be determined is whether the increasing frequency of all users moving toward being knowledge distributors themselves might become a great threat to the acquisition of solid knowledge and the need that each has to develop their own thoughts and to be creative. Or will these new technologies build the perfect bridge to ever more sophisticated forms of cognition and imagination, enabling us to explore new knowledge frontiers that we cannot at the moment even imagine? Will we develop completely different brain circuit arrangements, like we did when humans started to learn to read? Taken together, even if much research is still needed to judge and evaluate possible effects of digital media on human well-being, neuroscience can be of tremendous help to distinguish causal effects from mere correlations.

Acknowledgments

The author declares no potential conflict of interest. I thank Dr Marta Zagrebelsky for critical comments on the manuscript

REFERENCES

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The impact of the digital revolution on human brain and behavior: where do we stand?

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This overview will outline the current results of neuroscience research on the possible effects of digital media use on the human brain, cognition, and behavior. This is of importance due to the significant amount of time that individuals spend using digital ...

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Before college athletes officially gained the right this year to cash in on their name, image and likeness, Shaquille O'Neal's son started exploring possibilities.

"I had an NIL meeting last year and I told my mom, 'Oh, I think I'm going to be able to start making money.' And she was clapping and she was like, 'Woo hoo, no more asking me and your dad (for money),' " said Shareef O'Neal, who plays basketball at LSU.

A 6-foot-10 junior, O'Neal has averaged 2.5 points and 3.6 rebounds during two seasons of college basketball while battling an assortment of medical issues. He has yet to play this season because of a lingering foot injury.
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But his days of getting allowance from his famous father will be ending soon, according to Shareef, who has signed an NIL deal with NFT Genius, a cryptocurrency startup backed by investors such as Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and actor Ashton Kutcher.

Asked how much he stands to make, Shareef said, "It could be a crazy amount, that's all I know."

Last month, NFT Genius launched BALLERZ, a collection of 10,000 basketball-themed Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) that included Shareef. Next week, the first NFTs in Shareef's own collection will launch.

Jeremy Born, CEO of NFT Genius, declined to comment on details of the deal with Shareef. But he did address the project that will include the entire O'Neal family.

"It's a monumental undertaking - arguably the first time in the NFT space where an athlete is showcased not only for their work on the court, but also for important causes and personal hardships they may be facing off the court," Born said in a statement.

The first NFT in the collection will drop Dec. 13, a significant day for Shareef O'Neal.

On Dec. 13, 2018, he had open-heart surgery after being diagnosed with a right anomalous coronary artery, a congenital defect that caused an artery to grow in the wrong place.

"It's scary," Shareef, 21, told USA TODAY Sports. "It's something I've thought about probably 100 times a day ever since it happened. Every time I change my shirt, I see this big scar.

"Even if I see something as simple as a little heart emoji or a little heart drawing somewhere, it kind of just brings back a lot of memories.''

Shareef, who coming out of high school was anked 41st in the 247Sports composite rankings for Class of 2018, originally signed with UCLA. His heart defect was discovered at UCLA during a routine physical examination.

He missed the 2018-19 season while recovering from the surgery. About midway through the next season - after averaging 2.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 13 games - O'Neal announced he was leaving UCLA and transferring to LSU, where his father was a two-time All-American.

A bronze statue of Shaquille O'Neal sits outside the basketball team's practice facility.

"Nobody compares me to him," Shareef said. "They'll just ask me how does it feel to know your dad has a statue outside. I'll be like, 'It's awesome.' I walk past it every day going to practice. It's cool to see, like, that's my dad.''

Hampered by a stress fracture in his right foot last season, Shareef played just 10 games and averaged 2.8 points and 4.4 rebounds. The injury has lingered, and O'Neal said he plans to be ready to play at the start of the SEC season, which begins for LSU on Dec. 29 at Auburn.

"I know this season is going to be a great season when I get back," he said.

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Shaq's son, a 6-foot-10 college junior at LSU, signs NIL deal with cryptocurrency company

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Before college athletes officially gained the right this year to cash in on their name, image and likeness, Shaquille O'Neal's son started exploring possibilities. "I had an NIL meeting last year and I told my mom, 'Oh, I think I'm going to be able to start making money.'

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Volunteers are helping save seals in Ireland, a species that has been native to the island for 7,000 years.