Why texting harms your IQ

The regular use of text messages and e-mails can lower the IQ more than twice as much as smoking marijuana.

That is the claim of psychologists who have found that tapping away on a mobile phone or computer keypad or checking them for electronic messages temporarily knocks up to 10 points off the user's IQ, reports The Times Online.

"This rate of decline in intelligence compares unfavourably with the four-point drop in IQ associated with smoking marijuana, according to British researchers, who have labelled the fleeting phenomenon of enhanced stupidity as “infomania”.

The effects on IQ were studied by Dr Glenn Wilson, a University of London psychologist, as part of the research project.

“This is a very real and widespread phenomenon,” he said. “We have found that infomania, if unchecked, will damage a worker's performance by reducing their mental sharpness.

emily | 12:36 PM | Health Issues and SMS Alerts |
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