HOW

SMARTPHONES
ARE CHANGING
OUR BRAIN
-- Afeefa Anjum Shaik
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AGENDA-
• Smartphone Addiction & Causes
• The Impact
• Methods to overcome
​
 SMART PHONE ADDICTION 3

*Problematic smartphone use is proposed

by some researchers to be a form
of psychological or behavioral
dependence on the cell phone., closely
related to other forms of digital media
overuse such as social media addiction or
internet addiction disorder, closely related to
other forms of digital media overuse such
as social media addiction or internet
addiction disorder
* Results revealed that 61.4% of the young
adults were addicted to their smartphone.
*Problematic use can include preoccupation
with mobile communication, excessive
money or time spent on mobile phones, and
use of mobile phones in socially or physically
inappropriate situations such as driving an
automobile.
MAJOR CAUSES
1. Nomophobia
2. Pleasure Loop/Compulsion Loop

3. Accessibility
4. Delay discounting
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NOMOPHOBIA
• The problem of smartphone addiction, colloquially known as ‘Nomophobia’
• This means the fear of not having a mobile phone, is often caused by excessive internet
usage or Internet addiction. There's rarely anything intrinsically compelling about the
phones and tablets, but rather the games, apps, and online worlds they allow us access
to.
• For teens, cell phones have become a means of commenting and criticizing, approving
and admiring. They do not necessarily communicate with friends. They usually comment
on their activities. They are checking if their own posts have been liked or responded to.
• Biological factors contribute to this behavior. Cell phones are viewed by the brain as
drugs. Researchers have found that both the ring of the phone and the receipt of a new
text trigger the release of dopamine in the brain and its absence releases cortisol causing
stress & anxiety.
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PLEASURE LOOP
 Countless studies have shown that phone activity causes the release of
dopamine in our brains, making us feel aroused, motivated, and happy.
 Dopamine is a chemical produced by our brains that plays a starring role in
motivating behavior. It gets released when we take a bite of delicious food,
after we exercise, and, importantly, when we have successful social
interactions. In an evolutionary context, it rewards us for beneficial behaviors
and motivates us to repeat them.
 What’s an easy, accessible way to get that surge of dopamine? Picking up
your phone. So that’s just what your brain tells your body to do and
eventually becomes ‘compulsion’.
 And truth be told, this effect is only exacerbated by tech
companies. Several tech companies hire psychologists, neuroscientists,
and social science experts to help them create addictive products that
keep the release of dopamine going. There’s even a startup called
Dopamine Labs, which uses neuroscience to help tech companies
make their products extra ‘sticky.’
 ACCESSIBILITY &
DELAY DISCOUNTING
 According to Statistics, in 2023, the current number of smartphone users in the
world today is 6.92 billion, meaning 85.82% of the world’s population owns a
smartphone. This figure is up considerably from 2016 when only 3.668 billion
users were 49.40% of that year’s global population.

 Delay discounting refers to the perceived value of a reward decreasing as the

delay of the reward increases. Steep discounting of delayed rewards is associated
with various maladaptive behaviors, including addictive behavior involving
various substances (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, opiates) as well as gambling.
Hence we avoid work like studying, working out, etc., due to late rewards
IMPACTS OF
OVERUSE-
1. Memory Loss
2. Sleep deprivation
3. Myopia
4. Lower attention span
5. Phubbing
6. Other health problems
MEMORY LOSS 9

• A 2016 study in the journal Memory showed that relying on tech makes our brains lazy:
Researchers found that when people were allowed to Google answers to difficult questions, they
became more likely to turn to the search engine to help answer simple ones as well. Smartphones
also hamper our ability to recall things by overwhelming our mind with distractions, says Susan
Lehmann, MD, clinical director of geriatric psychiatry and neuropsychiatry at the Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine. "When you use these devices, you're often switching quickly
between topics or conversations," she says. "That rapid change in focus can prevent an idea or
thought from sufficiently registering in your memory.”
• Research has shown that smartphones may adversely affect cognition. Cognition is the process of
acquiring and applying knowledge through thought, experiences,` and the senses.

• When the short-term memory is exhausted it cannot

save information in long-term memory causing
memory loss.
SMALLER ATTENTION SPAN
10

 Altmann, Trafton, and Hambrick suggested that as little as a 3-second distraction

(e.g. reaching for a cell phone) is adequate to disrupt attention while performing
a cognitive task. This distraction is disadvantageous to subsequent cognitive tasks,
creating more errors as the distraction period increases, and this is particularly
evident in classroom settings. While teachers and parents are for or against cell
phones in classrooms empirical evidence showed that students who used their
phones in class took fewer notes and had poorer overall academic performance,
compared to those who did not

 On average, it takes
our brain 23min
15sec to gain
concentration back
after a quick use of a
smartphone.
SLEEP DEPRIVATION
11

 The blue light emitted by your cell phone screen restrains the production
of melatonin, the hormone that controls your sleep-wake cycle (aka
circadian rhythm). This makes it even more difficult to fall asleep and
wake up the next day.
 Electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile phones 30 minutes before
sleeping was found to delay the onset of melatonin production which in
turn might affect sleep. Due to fluctuated melatonin production and
phone screen light, tricks the brain into thinking it day time making it
harder to fall asleep

 Sleep deprivation is the

most found side effect of
excessive smartphone
usage causing low energy
after waking up and even
headaches &other health
issues
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MYOPIA
o young people growing up in the era of the smartphone might be at greater risk of shortsightedness. This
is worrying, as we rely on our eyes so much, from the moment we wake up until the moment we close
them to go to sleep. We do not want to put our eyes at risk! What is more, smartphones can take away
from time spent playing outside, and outdoor activities are good for our eyes. This is because daylight
can help with eye growth and function and, when we are outdoors, we are often not doing close-up
activities that can cause shortsightedness
o suggest that the teens in this study spend nearly four hours a day on
their smartphones and that un­interrupted 20-minute sessions
increase the risk of myopia
o use of smartphones among teenagers and found that refractive errors
were more common when smartphone sessions lasted 20 minutes or
longer, particularly for those teens who spent less time outdoors.
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PHUBBING & OTHER ISSUES

• Phubbing is the habit of snubbing a physically present person in favor of
a mobile phone.
• Phubbing has also been linked to a type of problematic social media use,
as well as pathological internet use. This research suggests that phubbing
may be a coping mechanism to help people deal with their negative
emotional states. Hence, making phubbing addictive in nature, and
damaging based on repeated and sustained use
OTHER ISSUES-
o Pain in fingers & wrist
o Neck pain/hunched shoulder
o Hearing loss
o Security risk
o Academic loss
o Anxiety
o Accidents
o Relationship problems
o Wastage of time
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METHODS TO OVERCOME

APP LOCK DND NIGHT MODE NO PHONE BEFORE

BED

NO PHUBBING PROTECTIVE USE ALARM CLOCK LIMIT SCREEN TIME

GLASSES
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THANK YOU!

‘HOME’ is where the heart is , but today

‘PHONE’ is where the heart is!