Memory, intelligence and the Internet
Published: 23 Sep 2005 14:00 BST
"Too much information" may be the catchphrase of the Internet age.
That's why generations reared on Net technology may need to one day rely on the brain calisthenics being developed and tested by Mike Merzenich, a neuroscientist, software entrepreneur and self-described applied philosopher.
Merzenich, who has a doctorate in neuroscience from Johns Hopkins, runs a think tank of scientists developing programmes to keep your brain in shape. Why not? He's already developed software to help children with dyslexia and other disorders learn how to read, as founding chief executive of Scientific Learning. And in the late 1980s, he was on a team that invented the cochlear implant.
As co-founder and lead scientist of San Francisco-based Posit Science — his latest venture — Merzenich oversaw testing programs centred on research he's done for three decades on brain plasticity. A field of neuroscience, brain plasticity deals with the ability of brain tissue to adapt and change physically and functionally throughout life. Without invasive surgery or pharmaceuticals, Posit Science is testing programmes on the elderly to engage brain plasticity and promote cognitive fitness.
ZDNet UK sister site CNET News.com spoke with Merzenich about how technology is affecting human intelligence.
Has intelligence changed at all in the era of the Internet?
Over the past 20 years or so, beginning before the Internet really took hold, the standard measure of "intelligence" — cognitive ability — has risen significantly — well more than 10 points. No one really knows what to pin this on, but it is a well-documented fact.
Are we getting smarter — or more lazily reliant on computers, and therefore, dumber?
Our brains are different from those of all humans before us. Our brain is modified on a substantial scale, physically and functionally, each time we learn a new skill or develop a new ability. Massive changes are associated with our modern cultural specialisations.
The Internet is just one of those things that contemporary humans can spend millions of "practice" events at, that the average human a thousand years ago had absolutely no exposure to. Our brains are...
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