FATAL DISTRACTION

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE BRAIN WHEN WE TEXT,

MORE THAN A DISTRACTION

When people text, they are composing a nonverbal message on a tiny screen involving fine thumb and finger dexterity. One hypothesis is that is too much cognitive load for our brain networks. Plus, there’s the “switch cost” phenomenon. “Every time you switch your focus from one thing to another, there’s something called a switch-cost,” Dr. Earl Miller, a professor of neuroscience at MIT, told Time magazine. “Your brain stumbles a bit, and it requires time to get back to where it was before it was distracted.”

MIND OFF ROAD VS. EYES OFF ROAD

If we daydream behind the wheel we’re more likely to catch things — sudden brake lights — than if we’re looking down at a screen. “If you go for longer than two seconds looking away from the road, that doubles your risk of a crash,” says Alison Smiley, president of Human Factors North Inc., a Toronto engineering company. The mental workload associated with the content of the message is also at play. Replying “yes or no” to a text is obviously simpler than answering a work-related question.

THE GRAND ILLUSION

We think of the world as a full-colour, 3D place, says University of Kansas psychologist Paul Atchley. But that’s not what our brain is processing. “It’s really only processing an area about the size of your fist held out at arm’s length at any one moment in time.” Atchley calls texting and driving the Holy Trinity of bad behaviours: “It’s not only occupying the brain, it’s taking your eyes off the roadway and your mind off the path itself.”