Does Facebook Melt Your Brain?

David Derbyshire asks a frightening question in The Mail: Are social networking sites melting kids' brains? Some neuroscientists think: maybe.

Here's a snip: "Sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Bebo are said to shorten attention spans, encourage instant gratification and make young people more self-centred."

The concern is that constant usage of these devices, along with video games, may "rewire" the brain, with profoundly disturbing effects, particularly for social interaction.

Professor Susan Greenfield is quoted: "I often wonder whether real conversation in real time may eventually give way to these sanitised and easier screen dialogues, in much the same way as killing, skinning and butchering an animal to eat has been replaced by the convenience of packages of meat on the supermarket shelf."

Read the entire article: Social websites harm children's brains: Chilling warning to parents from top neuroscientist