technology
a group matched on age and education. We wanted to know
how people were using smartphones and how it related to their
performance on various memory tests.
You said some brain injury and stroke survivors fear that using
memory aids may make their memory worse. What would you
tell these people?
Appy memories
A new study has looked
at the potential of mobile
phones to aid memory in
people with a brain injury.
Dana Wong interviewed by Dallas Bastian
A
re smartphones making our brains lazy? It’s a common
concern about the devices and their handy memory tools,
but Australian researchers say these applications are more
helpful than harmful.
Writing in The Conversation, Dr Dana Wong, researcher and
senior lecturer in clinical neuropsychology at Monash University,
said smartphone apps allow people to outsource remembering
appointments or upcoming tasks.
“It’s a common worry that using technology in this way makes
our brain’s memory capacity worse, but the reality is not that
simple,” Wong said.
“In fact, these platforms can be useful, not only for people with
memory impairments, but also the general population.”
Wong and her fellow researchers explored the potential of
smartphones as memory aids – such as calendars, alarms, contact
lists and reminder text messages – by surveying people who have
experienced traumatic brain injury or stroke.
They discovered that memory apps can be helpful for people
with brain injuries and that using these tools did not affect the
memory of people without brain injuries.
Wong said such apps can free people’s minds to focus on other
things, without using up mental resources worrying about what
needs to be remembered.
Nursing Review spoke with Wong to find out more about her
debunking of the myth that memory aids make brains lazy.
NR: How did you assess whether apps like calendars have a
negative impact on memory?
DW: We did a range of things across two studies where we asked
people with traumatic brain injury in one study, and stroke in
the other, about their smartphone use. We compared them with
28 | nursingreview.com.au
The results of our research, and other research as well, don’t
support that notion. We found that the use of apps as memory
aids was helpful for people with traumatic brain injury and
stroke, and that it wasn’t associated with poorer performance on
memory tests.
In fact, we found that people with stroke, for example, who
used more memory aids on their phones were actually more
productive. We measured that by looking at their participation in
work activities, in volunteer activities and in study activities. And
we found that people who used memory apps on their phone
more often, were more productive in their day to day life.
Why are smartphone memory aids so helpful compared to
other options such as notepads?
One is that they’re very portable. When you