Suhail T A, Indiradevi K P, Suhara E M, Poovathinal Suresh A, Anitha Ayyappan
Department of ECE, Government Engineering College, Thrissur/APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Thrissur, India.
MGM College of Engineering and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Malappuram, India.
Basic Clin Neurosci. 2025 Jan-Feb;16(1):31-44. doi: 10.32598/bcn.2021.2295.2. Epub 2025 Jan 1.
The dependence on smartphones has become widespread among all age groups in every realm of daily life. There has been increased concern about the adverse effects of problematic smartphone use and media multitasking among adolescents. Recent studies used various performance measures like questionnaire surveys to examine the association between smartphone addiction and learning performance, and such studies have yielded varied findings. The current study investigates the effects of media multitasking on cognitive performance using electroencephalography (EEG) features and a self-report questionnaire survey.
The patterns of smartphone use among adolescents in South India were investigated in this study using a questionnaire survey. Further, the impact of smartphone usage on cognitive task performance was examined using EEG features. To this end, EEGs of 22 healthy subjects were recorded during learning tasks before and after using a social networking site on smartphones. Subsequently, various EEG features were extracted, including ratios of wavelet decomposed EEG bands, attention index, and sample entropy. Finally, these cognitive performance indices were evaluated and compared with a control group.
A total of 600 healthy individuals (341 males and 259 females) participated in the survey, and 310(50.91%) belonged to the high-user group. Performance degradation (P=0.005), sleep problems (P=0.040), and mental stress (P=0.049) were more prevalent among the high-user group. A significant decline in EEG-based cognitive performance indices was also observed in the phone-use group compared to the control group.
The findings of this study highlight the importance of controlling phone use when engaged in cognitive tasks. The study also offers insight into developing neurofeedback techniques that enhance cognitive skills.
在日常生活的各个领域，对智能手机的依赖在所有年龄组中都已变得普遍。人们越来越关注青少年中问题性智能手机使用和媒体多任务处理的不良影响。最近的研究使用了各种性能指标，如问卷调查，来研究智能手机成瘾与学习成绩之间的关联，此类研究得出了不同的结果。本研究使用脑电图（EEG）特征和自我报告问卷调查来调查媒体多任务处理对认知性能的影响。
本研究通过问卷调查调查了印度南部青少年的智能手机使用模式。此外，使用EEG特征检查了智能手机使用对认知任务性能的影响。为此，在22名健康受试者使用智能手机上的社交网站之前和之后的学习任务期间记录了脑电图。随后，提取了各种EEG特征，包括小波分解EEG频段的比率、注意力指数和样本熵。最后，对这些认知性能指标进行了评估，并与对照组进行了比较。
共有600名健康个体（341名男性和259名女性）参与了调查，其中310名（50.91%）属于高用户组。高用户组中性能下降（P = 0.005）、睡眠问题（P = 0.040）和精神压力（P = 0.049）更为普遍。与对照组相比，在手机使用组中也观察到基于EEG的认知性能指标显著下降。
本研究的结果突出了在进行认知任务时控制手机使用的重要性。该研究还为开发增强认知技能的神经反馈技术提供了见解。
