Phones make you smarter, not dumber, by freeing up brain power

PHONES make people smarter rather than dumber — by storing information and freeing up brain power, says new research.

Scientists had feared our growing reliance on tech damages recall.

Getty

Phones make people smarter rather than dumber — by storing information and freeing up brain power. says new research[/caption]

But tests on 158 Brits aged between 18 and 71 found that putting key details into a phone or device helped boost memory — and meant they could could remember unsaved facts

Dr Sam Gilbert, from University College London, said: “When people had to remember by themselves, they used their memory capacity to remember the most important information.

“But when they could use the device, they saved high-importance information into the device and used their own memory for less important information instead.

“So far from causing digital dementia, using an external memory device can even improve our memory.”

The findings are published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.

Prof Kevin McConway, at the Open University, said using a diary or post-it notes to save important facts would have a similar effect.

Around 85 per cent of Brit adults owned a smartphone in 2020.