Technology is evolving the brain even as you read this while texting, “Googling”, and thinking about whom to phone next before you get back to a PowerPoint presentation. Like it or not, we are part of a global community of multitaskers, and how we spend our days is actually contributing to the evolutionary process.

This is the conclusion of Gary Small, a neuroscientist at UCLA, where he specializes in brain function. Small’s research shows that Internet surfing and text messaging are making brains more adept at filtering information and making snap decisions.

“We’re seeing an evolutionary change,” Small recently told a Reuters reporter. “The average young person now spends nine hours a day exposing their brain to technology. Evolution is an advancement from moment to moment, and what we are seeing is technology effects on our evolution.”

But multitasking can also cause “brownouts” in the brain, according to David Meyer, a University of Michigan researcher. In an interview with National Public Radio, Meyer says that no matter how good someone is at multitasking, there are times when important information is lost because there just isn’t enough brainpower. That is, the brain will start shutting down “neural connections” to important information.

Restoring these neural pathways, or “spreading activation,” involves replaying in one’s mind the steps that helped “misplace” information that leads some to mutter “What was I doing before . . . Then I was thinking about . . . After that, so-and-so said this . . . Ah, I know, I was thinking about what I was going to buy my wife for her birthday.” Therein lies the danger of multitasking. We risk losing our effectiveness both at work and at home if we engage in too many tasks. Furthermore, new research shows that the number of tasks we perform may not be as important as when we choose to multitask.

Research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows that brain scans can reveal when we’re likely to be at the top of our multitasking game. Higher levels of activity in brain regions such as the basal ganglia and prefrontal cortex corresponded better to multitasking performance.

So once we invent a device that tells us when our brains are ready for optimal multitasking, we’ll be able to lead more productive, less stressful lives.

“Obviously the average person can’t bring an fMRI scanner to work,” concedes Andrew Leber, the UNH assistant professor and cognitive neuroscientist who led the brain-imaging study along with Yale University colleagues. “It may take more time before our research translates to real-world benefits.” For now, we’ll need to rely on common sense as we “evolve” and wait on the “iScan” or some such device to be invented. Whatever we do, let’s not forget the birthday presents.

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