Date: Mon Feb 5, 2001 7:47 pmSubject: Computer-mad generation has a memory crash

From: http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/02/04/stinwenws01005.html

February 4 2001

Computer-mad generation has a memory crash

Cherry Norton and Adam Nathan

BRITAIN - GROWING numbers of people in their twenties and thirties
are suffering from severe memory loss because of increasing reliance
on computer technology, according to new research.

Sufferers complain they are unable to recall names, written words or
appointments, and in some cases have had to give up their jobs.

Doctors are blaming computer technology, electronic organisers and
automatic car navigation systems. They claim these gadgets lead to
diminished use of the brain to work out problems and
inflict "information overload" that makes it difficult to distinguish
between important and unimportant facts.

A preliminary study of 150 people aged 20 to 35 has shown that more
than one in 10 are suffering from severe problems with their memory.
Researchers from Hokkaido University's school of medicine in Japan
said the memory dysfunction among the young required further
investigation.

"They're losing the ability to remember new things, to pull out old
data or to distinguish between important and unimportant information.
It's a type of brain dysfunction," said Toshiyuki Sawaguchi, the
university's professor of neurobiology. "Young people today are
becoming stupid."

One high-flying 28-year-old salesman treated by Dr Sawaguchi was
forced to give up his job when he found himself forgetting where he
was going, who he was supposed to be seeing or, when he finally got
there, what he was selling.

Although no formal studies have been undertaken in Britain, experts
are increasingly recognising the problem. Professor Pam Briggs of
Northumbria University, who recently chaired a British Psychological
Society symposium on the effects of technology, said: "I think
increased use of the internet and computer technology is starting to
have an effect. Everyday memory might be at threat if you are using
the computer as a kind of external memory."

Dr Takashi Tsukiyama, who runs a private clinic in Tokyo, said he had
seen an increase in severe memory problems. "In the past two years,
more people in their twenties and thirties have presented themselves
with memory impairment," he said.

One sales assistant aged 28 said she suddenly found herself unable to
recall written words and was dismissed from her job. "Ageing affects
the brain's hardware, but errors may occur in the brain's 'software'
that have nothing to do with age but are related to someone's
lifestyle, such as not using your brain enough," said Tsukiyama.

Dr David Cantor, director of the Psychological Services Institute in
Atlanta, Georgia, who has treated patients for memory and attention
problems for more than 20 years, said: "Many experts believe
information overload is making it difficult for some people to absorb
new information, as they have reached a limit of what they can store
in their brains. These people forget things because they were too
distracted to absorb them in the first place."