University Of São Paulo Study Shows Technological Advances Influence Digital Amnesia
The forgetfulness of activities and everyday matters may be related to the uncompensated use of computer screens, cell phones and electronic devices. The phenomenon is called “digital amnesia” and causes deficits in memory storage capacity and cognitive decline.
This stems from the amount of information made available by digital media and the speed with which the volume of data is processed by the brain. With the advancement and ease with which information is made available to society, digital agendas and calendars, which mark important dates and events, as well as necessary data, leave us in a comfortable situation, leading to the forgetting of small tasks, data or information.
Cristiano Nabuco, coordinator of the Pro-Amiti group at the Institute of Psychiatry at the Hospital das Clínicas at USP, explains that the phenomenon stems from the way information is processed in our brain. He clarifies that the information made available via the internet passes through specific areas of data readings, in a very agile way and with little apprehension.
The way in which the processing of this information from the digital medium takes place in the brain is similar to the brain interactions we make to solve a seven-error game. Nabuco explains that this is faster reasoning, different from that performed when we read a book in printed material, for example, which needs a certain amount of processing time. “You have to pay a certain amount of attention. But my attention is not deep enough to make me consolidate what I’m reading”, he adds.
Technology and memory failures
Due to the importance of this processing time, reading on devices and digital screens prevents the consolidation of long-term memory, as it has a faster data apprehension area of the brain. This generates a lack of “information anchoring”, causing the so-called digital amnesia, which affects not only the acquisition of long-term data but also the consolidation of information and data, extending to the forgetting of simple and routine tasks.
For the rehabilitation and mitigation of the effects of technology on memory, Nabuco defends the practice of activities that involve the exercise of focus, especially those involving concentration. In addition, avoiding multitasking activities, which fragment the necessary attention, can help in the process of cognitive recovery.