The brain in the digital era and "Branching literacy"
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Published
Apr 30, 2013
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Abstract
One of the main characteristics of the brain is that of neural plasticity, which allows this anatomical structure to give functional adaptive responses to environmental stimuli. This is achieved via the creation of different cerebral phenotypes from a network of connections and cerebral wiring that are inheritable, not genetically but epigenetically, through social learning. So what changes is the brain undergoing in the Digital Age? What are the implications for higher-order cognitive skills? What impact do digital technologies have on literacy? These are the questions that this work seeks to address.
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Dan A. (2007). Videos as a baby brain drain. Los Angeles Times, August 7, 2007.
Dehaene S., Cohen L. (2007). Cultural recycling of cortical maps. Neuron Review, 56 (2), pp. 384- 398.
Desmond R. (2001). Free reading: Implications for child development. In D. G. Singer & J. L. Singer (Eds.), Handbook of children and the media. Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: Sage, pp. 29-46.
Donald M. (1991). Origins of the modern mind: three stages in the evolution of culture and cognition. Cambridge, Ma, USA: Harvard University Press.
Danohue S.E., Wordoff M.G., Mitroff S.R. (2010). Video game players show more precise multisensory temporal processing abilities. Attention perception and psychophysics, 72 (4), pp. 1120-1129.
Eshet-Alkalai Y. (2004). Digital Literacy: A Conceptual Framework for Survival Skills in the Digital Era. Jl. of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 13 (1), pp. 93-106.
Green C. S., Bavelier D. (2003). Active video game modifies visual selective attention. Nature, 423, pp.534-537.
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Kawashima R. ( 2005). Train your brain: 60 days to a better brain. Teaneck, N.J., USA: Kumon Publishing North America.
Kearney P. (2007). Cognitive assessment of gamebased learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 38 (3), pp. 529–531.
Lazar J., Bessiere K., Ceaparu I., Robinson J., Shneiderman B. (2003). Help! I’m lost: user frustration in web navigation. IT & Society, 1, pp. 18-26 http://www.ITandSociety.org (ultima consultazione 28.09.2012).
Levy B.W., Baxter R.A. (2002). Energy-efficient Neuronal Computation via Quantal Synaptic failures. The Journal of neuroscience, 22 (11), pp. 4746-4755.
Li R., Polot V., Makous W., Bavelier D. (2009). Enhancing the contrast sensivity function through action game training. Nature Neuroscience, 12, pp. 549-551.
Margono S., Shneiderman B. (1987). A study of file manipulation by novices using direct commands versus direct manipulation. In Proceedings of the 26th Annual Technical Symposium of the Washington D.C., Chapter of the ACM (11 giugno 1987). Gaithersburg, MD, USA: National Bureau of Standards, pp. 57-62.
Moody T.D., Gaddipati H., Small G.W., Bookheimer S.Y. (2009). Neural Activation patterns in Older Adults Following Internet training. Presented at Neuroscience Society of Neuroscience Meeting 2009 (Chicago, 19 ottobre 2009). Human Cognition and Behavior: Aging Studies, Poster Session 382.3/GG2.
Osaka N., Osaka M., Kondo H., Morishita M., Fukuyama H., Shibasaki, H. (2004). The neural basis of executive function in working memory: An fMRI study based on individual differences. Neuroimage, 21 (2), pp. 623-631.
Palfrey J., Gasser U. (2008). Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. New York, USA: Basic Books.
Prensky M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9 (5), pp. 1-6.
Rideout V., Roberts D. F., Foehr U. G., (2005). Generation M: Media in the lives of 8 – 18 year olds. Menlo Park, CA, USA: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. http://www.kff.org/entmedia/loader.cfm?url=/com monspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID=51809 (ultima consultazione 22.11.2012).
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Slegers K., van Boxtel M., Jolles J. (2009). Effects of computer training and internet usage on cognitive abilities in older adults: a randomized controlled study. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, 21(1), pp. 43-45.
Small G., Vorgan G. (2008). iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind. New York, USA: Harper Collins.
Small G.W., Moody T.D., Siddarth P., Bookheimer S.Y. (2009). Your brain on Google: Patterns of Cerebral Activation during Internet Searching, 17 (2), pp.116-126. http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/attachments/ 5230/136.pdf (ultima consultazione 26.11.2012).
Snyder I. (1999). Renegotiating the visual and the verbal communication. Prospect, 1, pp. 13-23.
Steel L. (1995). The homo cyber sapiens, the robot homonidus intelligences, and the artificial life approach to artificial intelligence. Munchen, DE: Burda Symposium on Brain-Computer Interfaces. http://www.agent.ai/doc/upload/200302/stee95 _2.pdf (ultima consultazione 21/01/2013)
Subrahmanyam K., Kraut R., Greenfield P., Gross E. (2000). The impact of home computer use on children’s activities and development. Future of Children, 10, pp. 123-144.
Velanova K., Lustig C., Jacoby L.L., Buckner R.L. (2007). Evidence for frontally mediated controlled processing differences in older adults. Cerebral Cortex, 17 (5), pp. 1033-1046.
Vidal J. (1973). Toward Direct Brain-Computer Communication. Annual Review of Biophysics and Bioengineering, 2, pp. 157-180.
Wolf M. (2009). Proust e il calamaro. Storia e scienza del cervello che legge. Milano: V&P.
Yuasa M., Saito K., Mukawa N. (2006). Emoticons convey emotions without cognition of faces: an fMRI study. In Proceedings CHI EA (2006). Extended abstracts on human factors in computing systems, pp. 1565-1570. http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1125737 (ultima consultazione 21/01/2013).
Zimmerman F.J., Christakis D.A., Meltzoff A.N. (2007). Television and DVD/video viewing in children younger than 2 years. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 161 (5), pp. 473-479.