Cell: the use of thumb influences brain activity – infonews

The use of touch screens of smartphones changes the way thumbs and brain work together, increased brain activity occurring , 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 employees-as EFE reports.

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

“The digital technology we use in our daily life molds sensory processing of our brains in a proportion that has surprised us” explained researcher.

Each region of the body has a specific area on the emotional center of the brain, where your information is processed , which is flexible and may change.

Thus, scientists studied brain activation that is stimulated with finger movement sector. 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, managed to record brain response when mobile phone users touching 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 users of smartphones 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 the sensory processing of the cortex in the brain “is continuously remodeled by personal digital technology” .