Does Technology Affect Brain Patterns

Does technology really affect brain patterns to make people react differently? According to an article by Andi Hovarth, “A study using neuroimaging of frequent Internet users showed twice as much activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain compared to sporadic users. This is the part of the brain that is used for short-term memory and quick decision-making” (1). Technology has begun to rapidly increase and is causing harm to people of many generations throughout time. This has caused severe problems to the minds of each generation to the extent that it produces defections, communication problems, and mental illness. Mobile technology, such as cell phones has begun affecting the way people behave and talk due to the increased influence in

Social influences from social media and peers usually begins at this stage also influence behavioral and communication changes that take place during this period of development. Bernd Ploderer, a lecturer in the Department of Computing and Information systems at Queensland University of Technology, gives a perfect explanation of this in his article when he states “A first approach for behavior change support systems is to provide social trends where users encounter traces or patterns of other users” (2). Students undergo five key features that follow these behavioral and communication changes and these are, social traces, social support, collective use, reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. The effect of these features relies heavily on social media where students will talk back, and even argue. In addition, they tend to act a certain way to get acceptance from their

During the 21st century, social interactions play a huge part in early development due to the fact that most teens want acceptance. Take the story of Khloe from the Doctor Phil show as an example. On this particular show, Khloe explains how her social media addiction has gotten out of control. “The amount of attention I get on Facebook feels like a rush to me, on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, I get 500 to 1,000 likes on each picture it makes me feel really good about myself!” (Social Media Obsessed Teen). With social media becoming more of a part of the teen’s lifestyle, many teens sometimes go crazy when given a little recognition on social media; so much that they would go out of their way to find out what people of the social media are saying about them and how well accepted a person is. Continuing with Khloe’s story, she stated, “I do get panic attacks when I leave my house and there’s no WiFi, It’s very hard to have conversations in real life. It’s so much easier to just text message or Facebook” (1). Following the effects of this trend, many teens began to take on an alter ego that makes them talk in slang, and act a certain way to fit in with the popular crowds. In doing so they become a carbon copy of their peers to in order to maintain their level of recognition. Overall approval encourages teens, and from there it starts to