Is the Internet Changing Your Brain?
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How is the internet changing your brain? Professor William T. O’Connor [email protected] Head of Teaching and Research in Physiology Graduate Entry Medical School University of Limerick
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Transcript of Is the Internet Changing Your Brain?
How is the internet changing your brain?
Professor William T. O’[email protected]
Head of Teaching and Research in Physiology
Graduate Entry Medical School
University of Limerick
THE SHALLOWS
Human thought is shaped by ‘tools of the mind’ - alphabet, abacus, map, printing press, clock and computer - which reroute our neural
pathways.
The printed book promotes the ethic of deep, creative thought.
The internet promotes the ethic of the industrialist - speed and efficiency.
Are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply?
Number of synapsesAbout 100 trillion
THE BRAIN’S VITAL STATISTICS
Adult weight
Adult size
Number of neuronsAbout 100 billion neurons
PATHWAY FOR SENSATION AND REACTION
The Five Senses
Sight
Hearing
Touch
Smell
Taste
ACTION
PERCEPTION
NEURON STRUCTURE & IMPULSE FLOW
Dentrite
SomaAxon
Terminal
NEUROTRANSMITTER
RECEPTOR
THERE ARE 5000 SYNAPSES IN THE WIDTH OF A HAIR
THE BRAIN IS SHAPED BY THE ENVIRONMENT
Enriched enviornment Deprived environment
Credit: NYU Langone Medical Center
Filled arrowheads - new spines formed during the first 2 daysOpen arrowheads – spines on day 0 - eliminated over next 7 days
Enriched enviornment Deprived environment
= Challenge = Monotony, isolation, low expectations.
Credit: NYU Langone Medical Center
OUR BRAINS CHANGE IN RESPONSE TO OUR EXPERIENCES
The visual cortex (red) located in the back of the
head responds to the image of the bell.
The auditory cortex (blue) responds to the sound of
the bell.
REWIRING THE HEARING IMPAIRED BRAIN
The superior temporal sulcus (green) integrates auditory and visual information.
REWIRING YOUR BRAIN TO DECREASE PAINMirror therapy uses your vision to “see” normal movement and reassure
your brain that it no longer needs to produce pain signals.
VIRTUAL REALITY TACKLES 'SHELL SHOCK'
Enables veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to revisit their trauma in order to become desensitized to it.
www.boingboing.net/.../virtual-iraq-for-tra.html
CYBERTHERAPY FOR ADDICTION
Scientific American Magazine, October 2010
http://williamoconnor.wordpress.com/
VIRTUAL REALITY IN ENTREPENEURIAL EDUCATION
Kemmy Business School Trading Floor
"I am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious."
-Albert Einstein
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