Originally published July 18 2005
Cell phones and driving don't mix
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
New research shows that the price we pay for trying to listen intensely comes at the expense of our ability to see clearly. Psychologist Steve Yantis of Johns Hopkins University says that when we turn our "listening knobs" up, we inadvertently turn our "visual knobs" down.
Take talking on a cell phone while driving a car, for example, and this is not part of an anti-cell phone crusade.
New research shows, however, that the price we pay for trying to listen intensely comes at the expense of our ability to see clearly.
When we turn the "listening knobs" up, says psychologist Steve Yantis of Johns Hopkins University, we turn the "visual knobs" down.
That may be a tad surprising because we humans pride ourselves on being able to carry out more than one task at once, or multitasking, as they say in the computer biz.
"People definitely are optimized for handling multiple tasks," says Yantis, who has spent years studying how we control the flow of information into our brains, and what we do with it when we've got it.
The evidence shows clearly that when the participants concentrated on listening, the part of the brain that controls vision became less active, and vice versa.
It's as though we have a certain amount of gray matter, and if we're going to put a lot of it in our listening basket, we're going to have to take it from somewhere else.
Yantis' primary interest is in the flow of information in the brain, and how that relates to such things as drug abuse and some mental illnesses, which is why much of his research is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
But the ubiquitous instrument that has become such an intricate part of our lifestyles --- the cell phone --- lends itself perfectly to his research.
That requires you to concentrate more on the conversation, and thus less on the driving, because you can't devote equal attention to both.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml