Neuroplasticity refers to how
our brain rewires itself and creates new connections depending on a myriad of factors – our environment, what we see, read and so on. This neuroplasticity is talked about at great length in terms of newborns and infants. The idea of the ‘crucial period’ is to form as many neuronal connections as possible while the brain exists in this highly plastic state. This is where millennials come in, buying their newborns paediatric approved ‘sensory toys’ to make sure they’re raising the next Einstein. However, while neuronal plasticity is often spoken about in the context of newborns, it is actually highly relevant to grown-ups too. Even as adults, our brains are highly malleable and alter at a cellular level depending on what we choose to input. And so, as we scroll and click and surf, our brains alter their cellular makeup in response to best support this behaviour. Unfortunately, our brains do not have an insurmountable ability to perform all tasks at an optimum level. So while we become adept at this quick- re thinking, our ability to exist in a more contemplative and focused mode diminishes. This is another way of saying the brain’s function is a ‘zero-sum’ game, as Carr says. This basically means that the advantage won by one of two sides is lost by another. To effectively watch a TikTok while getting back to emails while catching up on the news, means you may need to sacri ce the neuronal ability to sit down and read all twelve hundred pages of War and Peace. Whether you look at this cerebral alteration as success or regress is up to you, but one could argue that the contemplative side of human existence is key to not only collective advancement but personal contentment and well-being. The relationship between the internet and our brain is a multi-faceted and highly complex area of discussion in medical research, with by no means a one size t’s all remedy. But between neuronal alteration, decreasing grey matter and TikTok tics (a medical phenomenon pertaining to the development of tic-like behaviours in TikTok users), the apparent evidence is as inescapable as it is alarming. Not to end this on a wholly bleak note, the jury is still out on the exact effect of the internet on our brains and perhaps we can strive to turn the tide on our
rapidly diminishing attention levels. Might I add, that against the odds, and despite the neural rewiring you have suffered in this digitally saturated age, you have made it to the end of this article. Now you can go celebrate by watching a few TikToks.
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