When you're tapping on the touchscreen to send a message or play a game, you're not really thinking about how these activities may eventually change the way your brain works. However, a study says that it actually does.
There have been experiments and studies that revolve around the activities of the brain when you're playing a video game. However, for some reason, there's not much about the effects of touch screen in smart phones to your brain.
Thus, a group of Switzerland researchers decided to use it as their basis for their experiment and study. They worked withs a couple of people who were asked to use touchscreen and old phones (those that don't have touchscreen).
To measure their brain activity, they were hooked up to an EEG machine. This machine sends out electric readings that can then be interpreted and allow the researchers to find out which regions of the brain become active during a certain activity.
In their research, they discovered that those who were into touchscreens registered more heightened activity in the section of the brain that controls fingertips and thumbs compared to volunteers who used a conventional phone. In fact, one of the lead authors Arko Ghosh commented on how surprisingly different the changes were when they started using the smartphones and their screens.
Moreover, the intensity of the brain activity was proportionate to the frequency of exposure or use of the touchscreen. They were able to determine this frequency by checking into battery logs.
The researchers then concluded that sensory technologies do have the ability to change sensory processing of the brain. In other words, these technologies alter not only our way of living but also how our brain works. As to what type of influence it has, that may be a good subject for a related study.
You can read more about the study in Current Biology.