The capacity of our brains to process information is staggering: billions of neurons have trillions of “conversations” among each other, activating large networks of our brains to navigate the demands of living. Yet our brains’ resources are limited: we are highly distractible creatures and the quality of our attention can easily be compromised. When we frequently switch attention from one task to another, we experience an “attention residue” whereby thoughts about the previous task interfere with giving full attention to the current task.
Social media inspires this multitasking, which affects our cognitive control, emotions, and, ultimately, our brains. These platforms keep us continuously engaged, triggering repetitive, automated behavior and weakening activation in the prefrontal cognitive control regions of our brains. A National Academy of Sciences working group found that media multitasking among youth is associated with poorer memory, increased impulsivity, and changes in brain function. This evidence encourages us to be cautious with our brains and avoid continuously flooding all of our brains’ channels.