Monday, August 16, 2010

Your Brain on Computers: Outdoors and Out of Reach

Here's an interesting article about how we're being affected by so much electronic connectivity:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/technology/16brain.html?_r=3&ref=global-home


. . .The study indicates that learning centers in the brain become taxed when asked to process information, even during the relatively passive experience of taking in an urban setting. By extension, some scientists believe heavy multitasking fatigues the brain, draining it of the ability to focus.
Mr. Strayer, the trip leader, argues that nature can refresh the brain. “Our senses change. They kind of recalibrate — you notice sounds, like these crickets chirping; you hear the river, the sounds, the smells, you become more connected to the physical environment, the earth, rather than the artificial environment.”