Are you worried your smartphone is ruining your memory? It probably is – but running and walking can undo the damage

Your smartphone is ruining your memory

Credit: Getty

Strong Women


Are you worried your smartphone is ruining your memory? It probably is – but running and walking can undo the damage

By Kimberley Bond

3 years ago

3 min read

Do you struggle to get somewhere without being glued to Google Maps? How about remembering a shopping list that hasn’t been jotted down in Notes? Writer Kimberley Bond explores how tech has destroyed our memories – and how exercise could be the key to getting them back.

As we rack up an average of 3hr 20mins a day in screen time, it’s unsurprising that most of the time we have our smartphones well within reach. These small devices give us immediate access to an unlimited mine of information, right at our fingertips. We can look up where we’ve seen that actor before, search for the name of that nice coffee shop we want to try at the weekend and get an app that tells us what that song on the radio is.

The convenience of smartphones has led to tech infiltrating every aspect of our lives; our smartphones are our personal planners – nudging us about meetings, setting alerts for appointments and retaining hundreds of numbers. It’s little wonder that nine out of 10 people in the UK have a smartphone.

But for all the benefits this abundance of technology has brought, there may be one unfortunate and unintended side effect of having it so closely integrated into our lives. Some neuroscientists believe that outsourcing so much of our day-to-day to external devices could have had a detrimental effect on our memory

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