By Baroness Greenfield - 5th December 2011
Baroness Greenfield argues that the impact 'mind change' must be explored to bring out the full potential of each individual.
The human brain is superlatively evolved, compared to all other species, to adapt continuously to whatever environment it is placed in. The 21st century environment is changing in unprecedented ways: for example, a recent survey in the US showed that over half of teenagers aged 13-17 were spending 30+ hours a week, outside of school, using computers and other web-connected devices. It follows that if the environment is being transformed for so much of the time into a fast-paced and highly interactive two-dimensional space accessing only hearing and vision, then the brain will adapt accordingly: hence the emotional and cognitive profile of the upcoming generation may be very different, be it good or bad, from all their predecessors.
The implications of this changing mindset extend deep and wide into future education policy. Inevitably, there is no single catch-all sound-bite but rather a variety of diverse issues that require urgent attention.
First, we need to explore the possible impact of social networking sites on inter-personal communication skills and sense of individual identity: for example, a recent study from Michigan University of 14,000 college students reports a decline in empathy over the last 30 years, particularly marked over the last decade. Whilst this data in itself does not prove a causal link with the rise of the digital native, as with smoking and cancer some 50 years ago, epidemiological studies could be commissioned to investigate a possible connection.
Secondly, neurospsychological studies are suggesting that frequent and continued playing of video games might lead to enhanced recklessness, reduced attention spans, tendency for addiction, and increased aggressive behaviour. Significant chemical and even structural changes are being reported in the brains of obsessional gamers that mandate at the very least, wider discussion beyond the scientific community.
Thirdly, we need to understand the impact of search engines on comprehension skills, bearing in mind that information processing is not synonymous with knowledge and understanding. A variety of experts, among them the current chairman of Google Eric Schmidt, are arguing the highly contentious proposition that only books uniquely offer the opportunity to 'really learn'.
Given the plasticity of the human brain, it is not surprising that its adaption to a cyber environment will at the same time lead to enhanced performance in a variety of skills that are continuously rehearsed, such as visuo-motor coordination. However, we need urgently to gain a much fuller picture. Surely HMG should regard it as a high priority not just to commission epidemiological studies exploring the significance of various trends in relation to a screen-based life-style, but also to ring-fence funds for basic brain research into, for example, the neural mechanisms of addiction and attention, the long-term effects of various screen-based activities on brain structure and function, and the neural processes underlying deep understanding and creative insight.
The design of innovative software would also be enormously valuable that attempts to offset some of the perceived or agreed deficiencies of the current digital culture. Most immediately we need detailed profiles and breakdown of computer use in the UK, along with surveys of the views of various relevant sectors, e.g. children, parents, teachers, and employers.
Like climate change, this scenario of 'mind change' is complex, unprecedented and controversial. But unlike climate change, the end-point is not one of damage limitation, but rather of designing an environment that brings out the full potential of each individual human mind.
Professor Susan Adele Greenfield is the professor of synaptic pharmacology, Oxford University and director, Institute for the Future of the Mind (1996-); she is also the director of Mind Change and was raised to the peerage in 2001. She sits as a crossbencher.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd