When most people hear the phrase “technology rots your brain,” they may not think of it as literally rotting a person’s brain. However, studies show that this expression may not be too far from the truth.

It might be especially worrying for college students to find out that technology use may be causing them to lose the ability to read, according to Horowitz-Kraus et. al. 

Horowitz-Krause examined this issue in their publication “Brain connectivity in children is increased by the time they spend reading books and decreased by the length of exposure to screen-based media.”

The authors conducted an experiment in which they recruited American children in 2015-16 and then conducted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) while the children engaged in routine technology use and routine reading.

An MRI machine tracks blood flow and provides a powerful visual for monitoring brain activity. Half of the participants utilized technology while half were part of the reading condition, all the while under the surveillance of MRI technology. The results were surprising.

According to the article, when screen time replaced reading time, “screen time was related to lower connectivity between the seed area and regions related to language and cognitive control,” and these areas were mostly left cortical brain areas.

These brain areas are essential for comprehension, visual word-imagery processing and retaining attention while reading. The cognitive losses were due to the brain’s process of pruning unused synapses. In other words: use it or lose it.

This experiment was not a one-off finding. Another study by Juan Ramón Rico-Juan et. al. noted that “online gaming may not contribute positively to reading comprehension skills, while moderate daily internet use (1-4 hours) proves beneficial,” if reading levels are maintained.

According to the article, online gaming was the most detrimental factor, along with weekday gaming, while weekend gaming was sometimes associated with cognitive gains. The importance of balancing technology use with reading couldn’t be clearer.

Internet use and video games are not inherently bad. As discussed above, they offer potential benefits in moderation. But once that relationship becomes one-sided or takes up too much of the individual’s time, it can have negative effects.

Reading deficits like this might strike us as an issue that deserves national attention. So why is no one talking about it? Well, the scientific communities are engaged with the discourse and institutions make the efforts they can, but they don’t address one possible central problem: funds.

The Federal Department of Education has recently endured massive funding cuts, according to NPR. These kinds of attacks on education couldn’t come at a worse time. There is a real danger to the intellectual capabilities of young people, like Generation Z, growing up in a technological society.

While technology always has a place with us, and will always be useful in the growing digital age, the worry is not just that it could replace the essential knowledge gained by reading, but also that it is addictive, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

Since electronics provide constant stimulation, it can be difficult to steer oneself back into the habits of reading again, especially when students see reading as a lot of work, as noted by the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning at Boston University. 

But readers can combat this by recognizing the benefits of reading. Reading has a multitude of benefits that often go unnoticed by readers and non-readers alike.

For one, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness in California, reading reduces stress by 68% — a frankly unbelievable number, but this is corroborated by the National Endowment for the Arts, and Web MD.

Another reason to read, aside from increasing brain connectivity in the left cortical areas, is that, according to the National Library of Medicine, reading helps foster empathy, particularly if what is being read is fiction.

As such, I have linked four of my favorite books below.

Read at your leisure. 

“Twelfth of December,” by George Saunders. “Dark Matter” by Blake Crouch.

“Ender’s Game,” by Orson Scott Card. “Mistborn” by Brandon Sanderson.

Gannon can be found at [email protected].