neurology – Techdirt (original) (raw)

Stories filed under: "neurology"

DailyDirt: Who Needs A Neural Interface?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Discussions about technology’s impact on the brain are all too often couched in fear-mongering and sensationalism, but the truth remains that, like all human habits and activities, our use of devices does affect the way we think. It’s difficult to say much more than that with any level of certainty, but as with all great mysteries, scientists continue to gradually chip away at it one question at a time — and sometimes figuring out how to put what they learn to work. We might not be plugging our brains directly into computers yet, but here are a few ways the two have become connected anyway:

• A growing number of studies are uncovering various specific ways that technology usage is changing human behavior and cognition. Of course, the studies vary in terms of scale and quality, and shouldn’t all necessarily be taken at face value as facts. [url]
• “Brain training games” make a lot of grandiose promises about improving abilities and staving off deterioration — but do they really work? Any mental challenge is probably better than none at all, but many of these brain games may not be improving anything but your ability to play brain games. [url]
• Some mathematicians claim to have solved the problem of jet lag with an app that helps train your circadian rhythms before traveling. Supposedly it doesn’t require you to adjust your sleep schedule in advance, just the light levels you are exposed too, which it helps you optimize based on carefully-tuned formulas. [url]

If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: brain, jet lag, neurology, psychology, technology