Design Lab: Is Digital Dementia a Real thing?

I started off this research with a deductive study:
Observation: Are people getting more forgetful?

I have been trying to determine if this phenomenon Digital Dementia (a collective whole of brain atrophy caused by technology) is real and I started looking into the scientific studies with this key enquiry in mind: Is digital technology the root cause?

Brain Atrophy: Loss of neutrons (nerve cells), changes to brain tissues and reduction in grey matter volume. I zoomed into different mobile applications categories for inspection.

Neglect of intense learning leads plasticity systems to waste away -  Doidge, 2007

Reduced grey matter in the hippocampus is associated with an increased risk for depression and dementia, amongst other disorders. - Greenfield, 2015

Participants who opened the Facebook app more frequently and those who stayed on Facebook longer tended to have reduced gray matter volume in the nucleus accumbens. - Researchers from Christian Montag of Ulm University.

Too much screen time: Multiple studies have shown atrophy (shrinkage or loss of tissue volume) in gray matter areas (where “processing” occurs) in internet/gaming addiction (Zhou 2011, Yuan 2011, Weng 2013,and Weng 2012).

Compromised white matter integrity “Spotty” white matter translates into loss of communication within the brain caused by internet addiction. -  (Lin 2012, Yuan 2011, Hong 2013 and Weng 2013).

Heavy dependency on GPS to navigate may have negative effects on brains, especially hippocampus, which is involved in memory and navigation processes. (Maguire et al, 2010). The researchers compared fMRI scans between GPS and non-GPS users and found a greater volume of grey matter in the hippocampus than those who are used to relying on GPS. Coverage articles: [1], [2]

A rough map linking effects, brain parts, intelligence and dementia (click to view full size):


Findings: Over-use and over-reliance on mobile devices and excessive screen-time can cause brain atrophy.

2nd variable to look at: 
Industralisation & progress of civilisation has led to fast-paced world & changing lifestyles and people started to adopt smart mobile devices for productivity, work-life balance, self-fulfilment and efficiency. Is there a rising penetration of smart mobile devices (phones, tablets)?

5.11 billion unique mobile users in the world today, up 100 million (2 percent) in the past year.

3.26 billion people use social media on mobile devices in January 2019, with a growth of 297 million new users representing a year-on-year increase of more than 10 percent.

Data from Global Digital 2019 report by Hootsuite Inc. & We Are Social

Findings: There is a growing usage of mobile devices and an accelerated surge in Internet usage with an average of more than one million new Internet users every day. 

3rd variable to look at: Is Human Intelligence in Decline?

General intelligence (fluid, crystallized) is commonly defined as the sum of mental capacities such as abstract thinking, communication, reasoning, learning and memory formation, action planning and problem solving.

Intelligence quotient (IQ) scores, which had been rising for decades throughout the 20th century, are now on the decline, with similar studies in Norway, Denmark, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Finland and Estonia have demonstrated a stagnation or similar downward trend in IQ scores.
- Ole Rogeberg, 2018, research fellow at the Ragnar Frisch Center

‘A “large social force has been interfering with children’s development of thinking, getting larger each year. This “social force” includes the development of technology, such as game consoles and smartphones, which have altered the way that children communicate with each other ” - Shayer, 2017.

What is Human Intelligence?

Studies by researchers such as Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, Jonides, and Perrighave have shown strong relationship between intelligence, processing speed and working memory

Working memory can significantly influence  “intelligence”
Memory, thinking speed and concentration can be trained - Hsin-Yi Cohen BSc, MA, MSt

A study by Ashtari et al. (2011) showed that in a small sample of participants of larger hippocampal volumes were correlated with higher verbal learning and memory scores.

Findings: There has been a stagnation or downward trends in IQ scores and there is also correlation between cognitive abilities and intelligence

With these findings, my inference is:

The increased digital usage also means that more people have easy and instant access to applications and entertainment they hadn't before. This creates opportunities for companies to develop applications for mobile devices either to improve society with good intentions or to make money. 

Rapid growth of information causes scarcity of attention and the most valuable resource in this information industry is people's attention. My next research will be on Attention Economy.

References:

Hong, Soon-Beom, et al. “Decreased Functional Brain Connectivity in Adolescents with Internet Addiction.” PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 2, 2013, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057831.

Lin, Fuchun, et al. “Abnormal White Matter Integrity in Adolescents with Internet Addiction Disorder: A Tract-Based Spatial Statistics Study.” PLoS ONE, vol. 7, no. 1, 2012, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030253.

Maguire, E. A., et al. “Navigation-Related Structural Change in the Hippocampi of Taxi Drivers.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 97, no. 8, 2000, pp. 4398–4403., doi:10.1073/pnas.070039597.

Montag, Christian, et al. “Facebook Usage on Smartphones and Gray Matter Volume of the Nucleus Accumbens.” Behavioural Brain Research, vol. 329, 2017, pp. 221–228., doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2017.04.035.

Weng, Chuan-Bo, et al. “Gray Matter and White Matter Abnormalities in Online Game Addiction.” European Journal of Radiology, vol. 82, no. 8, 2013, pp. 1308–1312., doi:10.1016/j.ejrad.2013.01.031.

Yuan, Kai, et al. “Microstructure Abnormalities in Adolescents with Internet Addiction Disorder.” PLoS ONE, vol. 6, no. 6, 2011, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020708.