Are You Ready to Say "iLove You" to Your iPhone?

iLove

An Accepted Addiction

Earlier this year, I carried out an fMRI experiment to find out whether iPhones were really, truly addictive, no less so than alcohol, cocaine, shopping or video games. In conjunction with the San Diego-based firm MindSign Neuromarketing, I enlisted eight men and eight women between the ages of 18 and 25. Our 16 subjects were exposed separately to audio and to video of a ringing and vibrating iPhone.

In each instance, the results showed activation in both the audio and visual cortices of the subjects’ brains. In other words, when they were exposed to the video, our subjects’ brains didn’t just see the vibrating iPhone, they “heard” it, too; and when they were exposed to the audio, they also “saw” it. This powerful cross-sensory phenomenon is known as synesthesia.

But most striking of all was the flurry of activation in the insular cortex of the brain, which is associated with feelings of love and compassion. The subjects’ brains responded to the sound of their phones as they would respond to the presence or proximity of a girlfriend, boyfriend or family member.

In short, the subjects didn’t demonstrate the classic brain-based signs of addiction. Instead, they loved their iPhones.

As we embrace new technology that does everything but kiss us on the mouth, we risk cutting ourselves off from human interaction. For many, the iPhone has become a best friend, partner, lifeline, companion and, yes, even a Valentine. The man or woman we love most may be seated across from us in a romantic Paris bistro, but his or her 8GB, 16GB or 32GB rival lies in wait inside our pockets and purses.

My best advice? Shut off your iPhone, order some good Champagne and find love and compassion the old-fashioned way.

Influence on Family

We all know you spend less time talking at the dinner table, but how do you want your kids to be?....

In the 1960s, behavioral scientists Betty Hart and Todd Risley found through research that children of wealthy parents tended to have better reading comprehension than their peers with lower-income parents, because wealthy parents talked to their children more.

But that advantage may soon be flipped on its head, as technology consumes the attention of wealthy parents, who can afford it, and their children.

In The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids the Education They Deserve, journalist Peg Tyre writes about how children now play on the screens of iPhones and iPads while their parents send a few dozen text messages and work related e-mails, therefore inhibiting the conversations between parent and child.

A Working Mother's Opinion: Beth Feldman is the founder of www.RoleMommy.com, a blogger, a mother of two and a lifelong multitasker.  “You know it’s like the Olympics for me,” she says, ” how many balls can I have in the air and still get it done …I will always be a multitasker.”  Feldman Tweets, Skypes, updates her Facebook, texts on her Blackberry and takes photos with her iPhone. While the distractions may slow her down at times, Feldman refers to the technology as both a blessing and a curse.  

She points to a recent example of when an out of town meeting conflicted with her daughter’s oral surgery.  “I actually Skyped in and was there the two hours and was there to hold my daughters hand, so for me it’s a blessing. Um, the curse part is the emails that come in from a client on a Sunday when I’m in the middle of a ballgame with my kids… It’s hard for me not to answer back, and I think that people don’t really have boundaries anymore and that’s, that’s the downfall.”  To deal with the curse part of it all, Feldman is working to cut back on her constant media multitasking and to focus on one thing at a time.  “The minute that your child takes your phone and puts it in the refrigerator or, or consciously says ‘mom focus on me and not on your computer’ it’s a wakeup call and I think I’ve had that and I’m trying my best,” Feldman says.