Web-mad Hongkongers have digital dementia - and we're losing our memories
Frequent use of digital devices is causing memory loss among Hongkongers, a survey has found. Jeanette Wang talks to the experts
Forgotten something? The problem may not be age but your smartphone or other similar device. And brain health experts have even coined a name for the condition: digital dementia.
A recent survey suggests the condition is prevalent among Hong Kong adults, with a correlation between more frequent usage of digital devices and self-reported memory loss in daily life and at work.
"Digital dementia is different from the dementia we see in old age caused by Alzheimer's disease," explains Dr Gary Small, director of the Memory and Ageing Research Centre at the University of California, Los Angeles. "It's really got to do with the cognitive challenges and attention problems that result from overuse of digital technology."
Small, 64, was in Hong Kong last month to advise on brain health enhancement as part of an Asia-Pacific Wellness Tour with global nutrition company Herbalife. Coinciding with Small's visit, Herbalife released findings of the survey, conducted by market research company Lightspeed GMI.
Four hundred Hongkongers between the ages of 25 and 45 who work full time were polled online on their use of digital devices and lifestyle habits in September.
"What's interesting is the survey for first time shows this connection between overuse or higher use of digital devices and more complaints of memory disturbances in Hongkongers," says Small, a professor of psychiatry and bio-behavioural sciences, and a member of the nutrition advisory board of Los Angeles-based Herbalife.
