Health

Technology is causing Alzheimer’s fears in young Australians

As a rise in forgetfulness is leaving young Australians in fear they have Alzheimer’s, the experts say technology is to blame.

How many times have you left your phone in a cab? Or lost your keys in some untraceable place in the house?

If your answer is ‘more than one’ to the above, you’ve probably stopped blaming it on a bout of forgetfulness and wondered whether there is something wrong with you. Because it’s definitely not normal, right?

Well, apparently it is.

A Victorian neuropsychology department is currently researching this issue, and understands a rise in forgetfulness – leaving the perpetrators wondering whether they have some kind of degenerative mental disorder – is caused by an overload of information from technology.

Professor Michael Saling, Director at Austin Health neuropsychology department – which is studying the issue – told The Daily Telegraph society has lost sight of forgetfulness being a normal experience for humans.

“This expansion of information in our age has happened so fast, so expediently that it’s bringing us face to face with our own brains’ limitations,” Professor Michael Saling told The Tele.

“Because the devices we use have perfect memories there is almost an expectation building that we too should have perfect memories.

“We must keep pushing information out so it can deal with information coming in and if it gets overloaded people become forgetful.”

Well, we’re glad we’ve got the Professor on our side next time we lock our keys in the car.

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