Recently, doctors and researchers have pointed out that an increasing number of people have brain abnormalities due to smartphone overuse, leading to an overworked brain, including loss in memory and motivation.
At Okumura Memory Clinic in Japan, the majority of patients coping with “forgetfulness” used to be the elderly; however, the number of patients in their 30s to 50s increased by about 40% in the past 5 years. The decline in memory and motivation in this age group is thought to be due to “cerebral overwork”, resulting in the stagnation of blood flow and brain function.
In addition, when Tohoku University examined the brains of children who used the internet for long periods of time by smartphones, it was found that the development of white matter, a collection of nerve fibers that connects the entire brain, was delayed.
Smartphones have more information such as text and videos as compared to books and TVs, and when they are constantly put into the brain, the brain overheats as information processing cannot keep up. In order to keep the brain healthy, it may be necessary to find a way NOT to use smartphones even for a day.