Can going analogue save me from dementia? I gave up my phone for a week to find out

Telegraph

10 hours ago

I switch off my iPhone, print the train timetable and plot the route on my printed map. Already I'm hyperventilating. These days I'm married to my phone.
But for a week, I'm going analogue ('brain only') when I leave the house. Like most people, my over-reliance on screens is off the scale. I devour books on Audible, but struggle to finish a physical novel. Sometimes I feel numb as I bounce from app to app. I can tell my attention span is being eroded. We don't need to know things any more, just how to look them up.
Last month a new study from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found use of AI and ChatGPT may actually be eroding our critical-thinking skills. The latest neuroscience suggests digital distractions prevent us from good decision-making and innovative thinking. 'We switch tasks every 44 to 50 seconds, so it's impossible to do any kind of deep work,' says Dr Anastasia Dedyukhina, founder of digital wellbeing think-tank and coaching network, Consciously Digital Institute.
I do all my own research but it's easy to fall back on secondary sources (IMDB, Wikipedia etc). Even my AI tape transcription service offers to correct my grammar and come up with better interview questions.
I worry what 'cognitive offloading' (reducing mental effort by using external tools to store or process information) is doing to our native brain functions. So, I want to see if breaking up with my phone for a week might fire up the parts of my brain that I've allowed to fall asleep. I take my phone out with me but vow to keep it off, unless there is an emergency.
My week going analogue
Day 1: A train journey to visit my cousin in Dorset
Already, I'm embarrassed of how hard I'm finding an analogue existence. Friends know I will only reply to phone calls (no texting). But a week of scorching heat means train cancellations. My weekend in Dorset starts badly. I'm forever switching my phone back on, desperately consulting CityMapper and Trainline to update my poor cousin.
Things improve when I arrive in the countryside. We go for phone-free walks, swim, barbecue. It's a relief I have just one task: to listen and engage. Though at a birthday party, I feel antsy – I don't know anyone and this is when I'd resort to my phone (for gossip and moral support). I work through feeling self-conscious, and the conversation flows effortlessly because I'm completely present – rather than reacting to every app ping. Though, six hours later, my phone back on, it's like being reunited with a lover.
What I'm experiencing is a taste of what young people go through. Studies suggest screen time impacts the development of brain areas responsible for visual processing, empathy, attention, complex memory and early reading skills and has been linked to lower white matter integrity in young children's brains. 'White matter is vital for processing information, as it makes up all the connective pathways within the brain. It is essential for our ability to focus, problem-solve, and maintain balance. We know that conditions which affect white matter can lead to significant cognitive impairment,' says Dr Emily Sehmer, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist in the NHS and a founding member of campaign group, Health Professionals for Safer Screens.
'One of the biggest things with phones is that they're an opportunity blocker,' she warns. 'Children have reduced time outside and reduced development of skills off-screen (sports, creativity, practical skills). There's a reduction in books read, lessons learnt. Instead of going out to play, it's doomscrolling and TikTok.
'Speaking to young people I see in clinic, they are increasingly socially anxious. A lot have developed their communication skills through texting and emojis. When it comes to face-to face conversations, they find it extremely difficult.' She reminds me that one of the biggest .
I'm shocked how many phone short-cuts may be harming my brain. But there is one piece of good news. Born in the 1960s, I have a 'superhuman' advantage, says Prof Matthew Sadlier, consultant liaison psychiatrist of old age at Dublin's Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. I was the generation brought up on rote learning (spelling tests, times tables). So our hippocampus grew in size (known as hippocampus hypertrophy). And we're more insulated against the negative effects of technology.
But younger generations reliant on mobile technology don't have this advantage. 'For the first time we're not overtraining our brains,' says Prof Sadlier. This will have consequences in old age, he believes. 'When the atrophy hits and the hippocampus starts shrinking, it's shrinking from a smaller size. And that potentially is going to lead to a long-term tsunami of dementia-type diagnosis.'
Day 2: A good night's sleep
When I ask Dr Dedyukhina how to protect my brain, she advises building in more things that are natural for the body. 'One of the top things is to have proper hours of sleep. You want to be in bed by 11pm. No devices in the bedroom, no blue light at least one hour before.' Somehow, this all feels easier to do in the quiet of the countryside where my cousin never watches TV. We have supper outside, chat, reminisce, then I fall into the deepest sleep (no London traffic!), phone firmly off.
Dedyukhina cites a new study on the effect of blue light on mitochondria (essential for cellular function). 'When we have LED light, or any kind of artificial light, this suppresses the production of energy by mitochondria, and they produce less ATP. ATP is like a fuel, where you feel lots of energy.'
When you're in natural light, ATP production goes up. ' Spend an hour outside first thing because that will make a huge difference to your energy. Make these things non-negotiable. I wake up, drink water, go outside for one hour, immediately. Then I do my stretches, have breakfast, and only afterwards do I pick up my phone. Throughout the day, I take frequent physical breaks, stand up, stroke the cat, just to help the body. And social interactions are key, even if it's with the newsagent.'
As for constantly checking phones in case of a family emergency: 'We tell ourselves that something is going to happen if we don't look every five minutes. But that's not true. Adjust the settings to create a new profile where you only receive calls from people who are important. Go for a walk without devices, if you can. When we have a device with us, our brain never perceives we are by ourselves.'
Day 3: Back in London
Back in London, I'm proud of not consulting my phone in the interval at the cinema or theatre. I'm forced to walk outside, or read a novel. And a night out at an underground 1930s-style jazz bar (strictly no photos) is more fun because I'm not preoccupied by worrying about what I'll post on Instagram.
Habitual checking behaviour is insidious, explains Dr Sehmer. 'If you're driving a car and have your phone in the glove compartment, about 10 per cent of your attention is still thinking about your phone. When it pings, all of your attention shifts to the phone. Notifications are curated by tech companies to arrive at specific times in order to increase the likelihood of addiction. Studies have shown that by batching smartphone notifications you can improve your wellbeing in two weeks. But because they are drip-fed, every time you address a notification, you are completely wiping your working memory. This is why we feel busier than ever but are far less productive.'
We're not giving ourselves a chance to reflect, create memories and build up the memory bank of information we need, says Prof Sadlier. 'If we record an event on a phone it distorts our ability to remember it because we become external to the event rather than a participant.'
Day 5: I go to a matinee
When the experiment started, I was excited by using maps and timetables (imagining my life would resemble an episode of Race Across the World!). But sadly they can't keep pace. When I go to a matinee, London is full of crowds on the Pride Parade. To plot a route to the theatre I'm back to being a Citymapper junkie.
'So much of what we need in our lives, our public spaces, requires phones and social media platforms,' says Zoetanya Sujon, programme director for communications and media courses at London College of Communication. 'Social institutions are woven in with how these technologies work. It's not a luxury, it's a requirement of everyday life.' She reminds me 20 years ago most media were highly differentiated (e.g. TV, radio, internet) whereas now, so many are integrated and work across platforms.
So is it even feasible to live phone-free as a modern freelancer? Dr Dedyukhina thinks it's a band-aid solution. 'If you live in a culture where everyone is pushing you to go digital 24/7, telling a person: 'Leave your phone off and read a book', is ridiculous. You cannot expect people to do that, especially 20-year-olds who never grew up with that experience. I'm pissed off when I hear tech companies say: 'Oh, but there's an off-switch.' Not in the brain, there isn't.'
Day 7: I'm learning to build in more fresh air and sleep
After a week of going analogue, I've learnt a key lesson. Rather than thinking of it as a nightmare digital detox where the phone is prohibited, the trick is to live in a more humane way: ie build in more fresh air and sleep. I've stopped feeling guilty about using my phone in stressful situations but I'm still reading proper books and I've stopped doomscrolling.
I'm also wary of outsourcing too much of my life to apps. 'We have wearable tech that tells us when we need to drink, walk, eat,' warns Dr Dedyukhina. 'But as a grown-up, I should know this myself. Are we going into the Black Mirror episode where you'll eventually be charged for every new upgrade because you don't have the internal capabilities anymore?'
Curiously it's also made me feel more at peace about my tricky 1970s childhood. Arguably many of the things I loathed (maths tests, cross country runs, strict teachers) have protected my brain from the worst excesses of modern technology. Childhood resilience is a good thing, Prof Sadlier stresses. 'Challenging yourself to do something uncomfortable, to go to a school or workplace where you don't necessarily feel you fit in, that feeling of discomfort, in the long run, will lead to deeper contentment and happiness, than giving in to temporary emotion.'
So, what's happening to my brain?
Does going analogue really bolster the neural connections in our brains? Prof Sadlier thinks unequivocally yes. 'The problem with the phone is it's becoming part of our memory system and our communication networks. And the less we use our indigenous memory, the less we recall and internalise information, and that can lead ultimately to a 'digital dementia', because we become less functional without this assistant.'
The hippocampus which controls memory shrinks and atrophies in patients with Alzheimer's, he explains. But reading maps increases brain volume. When scientists examined the brains of London black cab drivers, they had more grey matter in their posterior hippocampi. 'Their hippocampus grew as they learnt 'The Knowledge' (how to navigate between thousands of places in the city), and that was shown to be protective against dementia in long-term studies.'
In contrast, every time I access GPS on my phone, my grid cells (found in the medial entorhinal cortex), and place cells (located in the hippocampus), crucial for spatial navigation and memory, are bypassed. We don't notice our surroundings. 'The problem is, we're not using the circuitry,' says Prof Sadlier. 'And if you use Google Maps to go somewhere, your brain thinks: 'I don't need to learn this'.'
For the first time ever, UK IQ levels are decreasing. 'We saw that in the PISA scores (Programme for International Student Assessment). Mathematical and literacy scores are starting to come down.'
The brain is lazy, so it seeks the lowest energy way to perform tasks, leading to a reliance on devices. He compares it to when people stop walking because we can now drive to the shops. 'If you keep using the device, your native brain will become weak and stop working, just as your legs and heart weaken if you don't exercise.'
It's been a genuine shock to realise that by relying on our screens we are losing our competitive advantage as humans (ie communication by words and gestures). Never mind our capacity for empathy and connection. But the good news is every time I go analogue, use a map, hand-write a list, I am firing up my indigenous memory, increasing brain volume and protecting against dementia. A week without a phone was tough. It was also genuinely life-changing.
Seven tips for a healthy brain
Let your mind wander
When our executive network, used for performing high-level cognitive tasks, quietens down, our brain activates a network vital for mental and physical health (the default mode network). It also helps us process memories. 'It's your brain's filing cabinet,' says Prof Sadlier. 'You're enhancing intelligence and creativity but also reducing your chances of developing depression and dementia.'
Hand-write a list
Taking notes the traditional way – with pen and paper or even stylus and tablet – is still the best way to learn. Engaging the fine motor system to produce letters by hand has positive effects on learning and memory, says Prof Kieran Clarke, 72, emeritus professor of physiological biochemistry at the University of Oxford, whose research interests include cognitive function.
Reduce social media
'There's a healthy, sensible way to use the internet,' says Prof Sadlier. 'And the first lesson is social media is not the internet. I would say to people, put self-contained apps like the BBC or Telegraph app on your phone and set the notifications to the type of news stories you want, because you will be as notified as everybody else if war breaks out! But when you read that story, you're not sucked into an algorithm.'
Read a book
'Book reading forces your executive attention to work,' says Dr Dedyukhina. 'Executive attention is the ability to stay focused on something and ignore everything else. And it's super-difficult these days, because when we read online, we learn a different pattern. We learn the so-called 'Z pattern', because we scan through the words, and the scanning pattern resembles the letter Z or F. I advise my students to read one page per day without distractions. If they can do one, then next time two, and so forth.'
Connect
Far better, Dr Sehmer explains, is to have an active conversation with someone about their holiday, rather than just scrolling past their photos on Instagram. 'Meeting up in person releases oxytocin and serotonin, the feel-good hormones of your brain, which improve our wellbeing.'
Big screens are good
'Cinema is fantastic' says Prof Sadlier. 'A communal human experience where you leave the house, queue, laugh at shared jokes. As a family, try to watch television programs together. Storytelling is an innate human characteristic, and it's how we learn emotions. With the internet, use laptops and desktop-based versions as much as possible. I use WhatsApp on my laptop. Avoid watching films on a mobile app.'
Maximise attention peaks
'You have natural attention peaks,' says Dr Dedyukhina. 'And the best way to optimise your work is to do your most difficult tasks during attention peaks. For most people it's around 10 or 11am, and shortly after lunch. Then during the attention valleys, rest, or do routine, meaningless work like booking tickets. If you notice these patterns, when your cognition goes up and down, you start working as a human, not a machine.'