Reading on a smartphone affects sigh generation, brain activity, and comprehension

Abstract

Electronic devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives, while their negative aspects have been reported. One disadvantage is that reading comprehension is reduced when reading from an electronic device; the cause of this deficit in performance is unclear. In this study, we investigated the cause for comprehension decline when reading on a smartphone by simultaneously measuring respiration and brain activity during reading in 34 healthy individuals. We found that, compared to reading on a paper medium, reading on a smartphone elicits fewer sighs, promotes brain overactivity in the prefrontal cortex, and results in reduced comprehension. Furthermore, reading on a smartphone affected sigh frequency but not normal breathing, suggesting that normal breathing and sigh generation are mediated by pathways differentially influenced by the visual environment. A path analysis suggests that the interactive relationship between sigh inhibition and overactivity in the prefrontal cortex causes comprehension decline. These findings provide new insight into the respiration-mediated mechanisms of cognitive function.

Possible effect of natural light on emotion recognition and the prefrontal cortex: A scoping review of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy

“…Blue light harms photoreceptors and pigmented epithelium cells, 92 and the reviewed fNIRS study suggests the negative impact of BL on reading comprehension. 63 In the reviewed studies, BL increased total hemoglobin concentrations when the participants were exposed to light emitted by a color-filtered white lightbulb, but it remained constant under LED illumination. However, the difference between incandescent light and LED can be applied to this result.…”

“…Therefore, papers that only mentioned light exposure for the technical principles of fNIRS or light effect on fNIRS experiments itself 62 (ambient light) were excluded from our review. Third, not only direct but also indirect light exposure measurements were included, as was smartphone use 63 (effect of blue light (BL)). However, studies were excluded if there were other non-negligible effects, such as the natural light effect on garden therapy 64 with green plants.…”

“…These findings indicated that BL decreases sighs and increases left PFC overactivation, resulting in poor comprehension due to excessive cognitive loads. 63…”

Deeper reading of poetry and prose

“…It seems highly recommendable to have students read texts from paper as well and do assignments on paper, next to reading from electronic devices (Honma et al, 2022;Mol & Bus, 2011;Wolf, 2018). Reading from paper is needed to propel deep reading.…”

Politicians and Artificial Intelligence Refusal: Brief Considerations

“…It has induced ill effects on family ties, the relationship of an individual in a social circle, social isolation, and inactivity that often leads to detrimental health conditions such as obesity, lack or complete inability to concentrate (Mishra, 2019, p. 7). The development of the mobile Internet creates more problems for the human brain, with important consequences for the next decades: for example, smartphones have a complex effect on the human brain, increasing mental laziness, reducing available cognitive capacity (Ward 2018), affecting reading comprehension (Honma, 2022).…”