How many hours do you spend with your smartphone in hand? How many times a day do you touch it, losing yourself in endless scrolling? Chances are you can’t answer these questions precisely, but the key word is “too many.” The folks at AsapSCIENCE take us on a fantastic journey to explore what happens to your brain when you live scrolling on your phone, and most importantly: what happens if you try to stop.
Some people simply can’t be without their smartphone, watching... whatever. Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, it doesn’t matter. Our entire digital life passes through these devices, and their influence runs much deeper than we think.
For example: the average American user touches their phone 2,600 times a day. 2,600! Links, photos, videos, apps that open and close, and of course, scrolling. Miles of scrolling. Now imagine that user trying to give up their smartphone, even for a while. The AsapSCIENCE folks explain that the process won’t be so easy for one reason: smartphones change our brains.
The Effects of Smartphones on Our Brains
With just one hour of pause, it’s very likely the user has tried to pick up their phone three or four times, since the daily average is 52. Twelve hours of abstinence are enough for anxiety to unleash its full firepower, courtesy of the hormone cortisol, released as a stress response. Twenty-four hours later, anxiety gets a companion: FOMO, “fear of missing out,” with an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.
Prolonged smartphone use changes three pathways in our brain: the mesocortical, the mesolimbic, and the nigrostriatal dopamine pathway. All of them activate when anticipating or receiving rewards, in this case in the form of updates, notifications, likes, thumbs up, hearts, emojis, and so on.
Remember when those who ‘quit’ Facebook talked about validation loops and dopamine hits? That’s exactly what this is about. Scrolling and positive interactions on social networks reward the brain by releasing dopamine, reinforcing a very powerful association in the background: all that happens when we use the smartphone. Tech companies not only understand this, they’ve optimized their content to exploit the brain’s reward system. Checking the smartphone is a low-effort activity with small but linked rewards, sustaining the cycle of activity.
Not Only the Brain, but the Rest of the Body Too
By the third day of abstinence, many users report a “phantom vibration” in their pockets, but positive changes begin to appear in communication, attention, and concentration. Between five and seven days later, cognitive skills improve. In fact, a study published by researchers at the University of Waterloo suggests that heavy smartphone use is associated with lower intelligence.
A week without a smartphone translates into better sleep quality. Experts aren’t yet fully convinced whether the negative impact of mobile devices on sleep is due to a psychological factor or the light from the screen, but the evidence suggests we sleep better. Finally, after two weeks without smartphones, anxiety and depression levels begin to subside, along with neck and wrist pain.
