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Peter Wilson, Europe correspondent
The Australian
June 14, 2008
Here is a sample of an article on Susan Greenfield, ‘a passionate advocate for taking science to the masses’. It can be read as a companion article to my previous post:
People who spend many hours a day in front of computer screens and televisions, she warns, are going through an unprecedented process in which the brain is churning out and consuming excessive amounts of a natural chemical called dopamine. Other brain scientists agree that heightened levels of dopamine could produce important changes in the fine wiring and functions of the brain, suppressing certain types of more sophisticated thinking.
The hard scientific evidence is limited but Greenfield believes the result of all that screen time and addictive dopamine will be the biggest physical changes to the human brain since the Neanderthals 100,000 years ago, producing changes in behaviour and thought patterns that amount to nothing less than a different type of person.
Older generations - she describes them as "the people of the book" - have developed powers of imagination, empathy, context and meaning which she fears will be much reduced in "the people of the screen".
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23858718-28737,00.html
previous
The Australian
June 14, 2008
Here is a sample of an article on Susan Greenfield, ‘a passionate advocate for taking science to the masses’. It can be read as a companion article to my previous post:
People who spend many hours a day in front of computer screens and televisions, she warns, are going through an unprecedented process in which the brain is churning out and consuming excessive amounts of a natural chemical called dopamine. Other brain scientists agree that heightened levels of dopamine could produce important changes in the fine wiring and functions of the brain, suppressing certain types of more sophisticated thinking.
The hard scientific evidence is limited but Greenfield believes the result of all that screen time and addictive dopamine will be the biggest physical changes to the human brain since the Neanderthals 100,000 years ago, producing changes in behaviour and thought patterns that amount to nothing less than a different type of person.
Older generations - she describes them as "the people of the book" - have developed powers of imagination, empathy, context and meaning which she fears will be much reduced in "the people of the screen".
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23858718-28737,00.html
previous
1 comment:
Good post Biddy.
I do find I'm in a completely different mood reading a book. It's slower, more time to turn over the thoughts. The computer is quick and interactive; more like a conversation. Do conversations also release dopamine into the brain?
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