Spending all day and night staring at your computer screen and all your other gadgets in between may be rotting your brain. According to the New York Times, scientists say all the digital devices in your life are keeping your brain so busy it doesn"t have any time to rest. The much needed downtime allows your brain to better learn, remember information and come up with new ideas.
Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco have found that when rats experience something new their brains show new activity patterns. Then only after the rats take a break do their brains start to process the information in a way that appears to be committing the experience to memory. Scientists believe that the human brain operates in a similar manner.
Loren Frank, assistant professor in the department of physiology at the university, where he specializes in learning and memory said, "Almost certainly, downtime lets the brain go over experiences it’s had, solidify them and turn them into permanent long-term memories, when the brain was constantly stimulated, you prevent this learning process."
A separate study at the University of Michigan found that people were able to commit more items to memory after a walk in the woods than after a walk in a dense urban environment. Scientists even said if you feel relaxed while watching TV or sitting at your computer you"re taxing your brain. Marc Berman, a University of Michigan neuroscientist said,“People think they’re refreshing themselves, but they’re fatiguing themselves”