Some scientists are blaming an increase in severe memory loss on people’s growing dependence on computers and other electronic devices. People aren’t using their brains to keep track of things and their underused recall mechanisms get slow. And I thought I was just getting old. So by using my PalmPilot to keep track of things because I can’t remember them, am I making myself even less likely to remember things? Didn’t people use notebooks, DayTimers, scraps of paper, the backs of the hands before computers anyway? Did the advent of the use of paper for taking notes kill off some of our memory skills? I am all for the idea that if you exercise a brain skill, it will improve. But I am not about to blame my computer and PDA use for my memory loss. However, if it is indeed true that younger people are losing their memory skills, I suppose that the shift to computer use could be to blame. I hope they are using those saved brain cells to create cool new things instead of filling them with trash. (via Feed Daily)