Are mobile phones hacking our brains?

BarcelonaThree-year-old children plugged into a mobile phone screen to distract them (and not bother anyone), eight-year-old children who already carry a smart device in their pocket to which they dedicate hours, teenagers who have made the smartphone another appendage of their body, adults abducted by an infinite scroll watching short videos for hours that, to put it elegantly, offer content of dubious intellectualism. Most of us can identify with some of these profiles, images that have contributed to demonizing smartphones. But, are they really as harmful as they say? Is the problem the screens or the content? Is our brain prepared to respond to all the stimuli that come from the screen? Aarón Fernández del Olmo, a clinical neuropsychologist, doctor of psychology, and philosophy graduate, has thoroughly studied this issue. In his book "El cerebro hackeado" (Editorial Kailas), he proposes to break some myths about the consequences of using smartphones and to offer some tools for healthier use.

He first posits that the brain's plasticity has limits, which is why the immediacy and rapid changes that accompany the use of this mobile technology are unlikely to give the brain time to adapt. He recalls that "the brain has a lot of hidden corners and points that make it imperfect, although it is perfect for the natural world where we are and where we have built ourselves. However, the artificial world built with mobile phones is no longer exactly so manageable. And what happens? That moments arrive when you find that overstimulation can be counterproductive." But he also acknowledges that we cannot yet know to what extent they are harmful, because they have not been around long enough for us and there is not enough perspective to analyze it rigorously. He assures that many of the claims made about the impact of mobile phone use on the brain do not have a scientific basis. Perhaps, he says, as has already happened with previous technological advances, there is fear of what is new. As he explains, "the book's objective, precisely, was to analyze the phenomenon of new technologies, screens, their impact on the brain, and to focus a little on what we know, which is sometimes very different from what we fear. Sometimes we are afraid of certain things that are not fully proven, because they may be logical, they may seem coherent, but research is needed to prove them."

However, he acknowledges that there are some warning signs and challenges to bear in mind, starting with the fact that the brain does not function the same way in infants, adolescents, adults, or the elderly. "If we want to properly evaluate what mobile phones do to our brains, we need to understand that our brain is not the same throughout our entire lives," he recalls. In this regard, the neuropsychologist states that "science must advance to certify some things that may be plausible but are not fully proven. One example, from what we already know, is how they can affect neurodevelopment. In childhood, uncontrolled, non-cooperative exposure to mobile phones with parents is known to affect cognitive development. Therefore, the question that needs to be demonstrated is why. Is it because screen exposure is bad in itself, or is it because we are displacing other tasks that are necessary for adequate neurodevelopment? Or if there are indeed some vulnerability factors that predispose certain children." And as we asked at the beginning, is the problem screens or content? "That is precisely one of the keys," he says. "When talking about the scientific study of screens, very broad, imprecise measures are used. For example, usage time. Not so much how it is used, with whom it is used, what content... And this causes the results to be blurred. Why? Because there are people who can spend a long time on screens doing cognitively useful things, and these people will not experience any cognitive or attention problems, nor in terms of sociability. That is why it is important that we consider measures on how it is used, the type of use, cooperation with the family... Many details that are sometimes overlooked in research.

Too fast for our brain?

We must also bear in mind that digitalization is faster than our ability to adapt to change, and that there are some aspects linked to the use of mobile phones that can impact our brains, such as overstimulation or chained, simultaneous and alternative stimuli. A reality that causes a paralysis of action, so that we either get hooked quickly or give up. The clearest example is trying to choose a movie to watch on a digital platform. The offer is so large, there are so many stimuli, that after half an hour browsing the menu we end up giving up and don't watch any movies. As Dr. Fernandez del Olmo points out, "memory processes need time. If I am constantly bombarded with stimulation, I leave no room for the brain to organize information, to process it, and to be able to generate good memories. This causes the feeling that our memories are superficial, that things don't stick with us like before, that we are having more difficulty understanding or remembering".

Aarón Fernández del Olmo warns of other issues that should make us reflect, especially in a world dominated by speed and the need to not miss anything, which can end up generating addiction, hatred of slowness, and little resistance to waiting. And he presents a reflection: "If technology becomes an end in itself to build ever more powerful, faster things, that allow us to work more, do more, or be more connected, in the end we are going against human nature. In this case, we are talking about a technology that does not respect our times, and these imply time to stop, reflect, process, and rest." In this regard, he warns that the combination of overstimulation and hyper-speed ends up leading to superficiality, with those infinite scrolls we mentioned, where we don't fully digest the content. He also focuses on the dangers of hyper-connection, which can cause sleep disturbances and affect memory processes. And does mobile phone addiction exist? There can be cases, of course, but the neuropsychologist points out that we must distinguish between what would be addictive use and an addiction. "Unfortunately, many times what we find is - explains the neuropsychologist - that this compulsive use of the mobile phone is a compensation for other deficiencies, often affective, relational, which are not only related to the use of the mobile phone, but are also related to the environment in which we move, hyper-productivity, overload, lack of leisure spaces... Situations that make the mobile phone end up being more of a tool to compensate for these deficiencies than the cause."

The important thing, he concludes, is to reduce alarmism but keep certain risks in mind. This means adapting technology to ourselves – and not the other way around –, making conscious use of mobile phones, and understanding that technological progress must have a purpose. He understands, however, that mobile phones are a reflection of our society, one that seeks to optimize every minute and rewards the idea of turning time into results by discarding what is not profitable. Therefore, concludes Aarón Fernández del Olmo, the solution is not so much to turn off screens as to change the model of productivity and speed. The important thing is to know how we want to live and understand that "the problem has been that we have found ourselves with devices full of traps that have not been regulated and that came without an instruction manual. And we have all fallen into these traps. The key is to understand that a technology will be good or bad depending on what we do with it".