5 new brain disorders that were born out of the digital age

This is your brain on the internet

We're obsessed, and fear leaving home without it.
(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

It's hard to remember what life was like before we had the internet at our fingertips, smartphones in our pockets, and a laptop on every desk. Today, our brains are racing to adapt to the digital age. Cognitive neuroscientists say all that time we now spend in front of screens has changed the way we read and comprehend. Internet browsing has shortened both our attention spans and our patience. And it's doing a number on our memories.

In one recent study, researchers asked people a series of trivia questions. Half the group was allowed to use Google, the other half was not. Then, in the second half of the study, all participants were given a new round of easier questions and told they could choose whether or not to use Google to answer them. Sounds pretty standard, right? But those who used the internet in the first round really struggled to answer any questions in the second round while relying solely on their own knowledge and memories. One-third of them didn't even try, reaching for Google immediately.

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Tammy Kennon
Tammy Kennon is a career journalist whose work appears in The New York Times, USA Today and Cruising World magazine, among others. After traveling aboard her sailboat for three years, she moved to Seattle where she writes about mental health, travel, and things too interesting to ignore.