Using the thumb on smartphones causes changes in … – Los Andes (Argentina)

The use of touch screens for smartphones change the way thumbs and brain work together, resulting in increased brain activity, according to a study.

Research published in the journal Current Biology, says that “touch” screens of smartphones able people to develop new skills with the fingers, especially the thumb which are the most employees- reported EFE.

Arko Ghosh , a professor of neuroscience at the University of Zurich, noted that the obsession with the use of these devices will provide an opportunity to analyze the daily brain plasticity and understand how life everyday shapes it.

“The digital technology we use in our daily life molds the sensory processing of our brains in a proportion that surprised us,” said the researcher. Each region of the body has a specific area on the emotional center of the brain where information is processed, which is flexible and may change.

So, scientists studied the activation of the brain area that is stimulated with the movement of the fingers. To do this they performed electroencephalograms to measure the activity of the cortical regions of the brain in 37 right-handed people.

Thanks to this study, achieved record brain response when mobile phone users touched the screen with your thumb, index and middle, to then compare it with that of people still using old traditional mobile keypads. The data revealed that electrical activity in the brain of smartphone users increased by touching the tips of three fingers above.

In addition, the amount of activity in the cerebral cortex associated with the thumb and the index was directly proportional to the amount of time the device was used. The study authors concluded that sensory processing in the brain cortex “is continuously remodeled by personal digital technology.”