(CTV News) – Learning to text on a smartphone is nowhere near as difficult as learning to play the violin, but the two may have a few similarities.
Brain researchers have found that smartphone use shapes the parts of our brains that govern our finger movement in much the same way as learning to play an instrument, such as the violin.
Every region of the body — from our toes to our fingers — has a particular processing area in the part of our brains called the somatosensory cortex. These areas are “plastic,” meaning they can change and grow throughout our lifetimes.
When one area is developed through repeated violin practising, for instance, the area of the brain that controls the violin-playing fingers is larger than in other people.