A summary of "The Internet Probably isn't Ruining Your Teenager's Brain" by Christian Jarrett.
Jarrett reported that Kathryn Mills, a scientist at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience in London, did an experiment where she tested the affects of the internet on the brains of teenagers. Mills conclusion was that "There is currently no evidence to suggest that the Internet has or has not had a profound affect on brain development." What activities you participate in will change how your brain develops. Therefore, if you use the Internet more, your brain will change accordingly. There is, in fact, research to suggest that there are positive effects on the brain, not negative. However, there is little research on this topic. The majority of the research conducted was on "internet addicts", which most teenagers are not.
Even if the internet does affect the brain, it is possible for the brain to repair and change itself, even as an adult (Jarrett, 2014).
As a person who spends a lot of my time on the internet, I was glad to hear this, that there are no significant negative effects found that there are negative effects on the brain due to internet usage. Even if there are and have not been found or recognized, your brain as an adult can still reform itself. However, the lack of research on this subject is concerning. If it is a problem or an even real issue, we have no way to know right now. More research needs to be conducted for a confident conclusion to be reached and agreed upon.
Jarrett, C. (2014, September 3). The internet probably isn’t ruining your teenager’s brain. Retrieved September 8, 2014, from Wired website: http://www.wired.com/2014/09/is-the-internet-scrambling-our-teenagers-brains-we-dont-know-but-probably-not/
I'm fascinated about how our activities change our brains. It is encouraging that the internet isn't melting all our brains, but I still wonder, as you do, what effect we may see as more time goes by and studies are done. In the meantime, back to the web!
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