While we know the mobile device craze is having a dramatic affect on our lives, a new study is attempting to find out what affect it is having on our brains, particularly in children.
The study, officially being referred to as the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones, or SCAMP, is being spearheaded by researchers from Imperial College London. While the SCAMP team will be looking at various affects these devices are having on kids, they will be focusing on whether using mobile phones and other wireless gadgets might affect children's brain development through adolescence.
"As mobile phones are a new and widespread technology central to our lives, carrying out the study is important in order to provide the evidence base with which to inform policy and through which parents and their children can make informed life choices," explained lead researcher Dr. Mirreille Toledano.
In addition, the research will look at the affect on cognitive functions such as memory and attention, which continue to develop into adolescence -- just the age when teenagers begin heavy use of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
The study will monitor the cognitive ability of 2,500 11- to 12-year-olds in September, before repeating the tests in 2017. The researchers claim the impetus of the study is based on the fact "very little" is known about what impact wireless technology has on children's brains. Previous research conducted on the use of mobile devices has focused on adults, particularly examining whether excessive use could cause brain cancer, though no evidence of this has been discovered so far.
Statista.com estimates there will be more than 193 million smartphone users in the United States by the year 2016. Perhaps even more incredible is a statistic from Sense Media that claims in 2013 three-quarters of U.S. children 8 years and younger now have access to some type of "smart" mobile device at home (such as a smartphone or tablet), a jump from 52 percent from just two years ago.
Results from the SCAMP study are expected later this year.
