The document discusses research on how social networking sites may impact brain structure and function. It describes how MRI can be used to measure plasticity in local brain structures and global connectivity patterns. Specifically, the talk outlines an experiment using fMRI to examine if extensive Facebook use alters people's theory of mind abilities as measured by social cognitive tasks. The study aims to provide insights into how digital technologies may be reshaping social cognition.

1. ZOMBIES OR CYBORGS: Is Facebook eating your brain? Micah Allen PhD Student @

2. VS

5. NEUROSCIENCE: A DISCLAIMER

6. POSSIBILITIES AND LIMITATIONS Brain Plasticity in the Human Neocortex

8. MICROSTRUCTURAL PLASTICITY

10. STRUCTURAL PLASTICITY IN DEVELOPMENT Gogtay et al. Dynamic mapping of human cortical development during childhood through early adulthood. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (2004) vol. 101 (21) pp. 8174-9

11. BASIC METHODS IN VBM AND FMRI

18. ZOMBIES AND CYBORGS What’s a Cyborg? Micah Allen PhD Student @

20. BRAAAAIIINNSSS….. “ A study by the Broadcaster Audience Research Board found teenagers now spend seven-and-a-half hours a day in front of a screen. Educational psychologist Jane Healy believes children should be kept away from computer games until they are seven. Most games only trigger the 'flight or fight' region of the brain, rather than the vital areas responsible for reasoning. Sue Palmer, author of Toxic Childhood, said: 'We are seeing children's brain development damaged because they don't engage in the activity they have engaged in for millennia.” -Daily Mail

22. SOCIAL CYBORGS?

23. EXTENDING THEORY-OF-MIND

24. EXTENDING THEORY-OF-MIND

25. SOCIAL EXTENSION

26. SOCIAL TOOLS

34. TRAIT-ADJECTIVE TASK

36. OTHER TASKS – TOM WORD PROBLEMS

40. THANK YOU! Thanks to: Andreas Roepstorff, Antoine Lutz, Peter Vestergaard Interacting Minds and the Danish Center for Functionally Integrative Neuroscience Yishay Mor and the LKL Contact: [email_address] Twitter: @neuroconscience URL: neuroconscience.com Slides available at: