Step away from your cameraphone: Constantly taking photographs STOPS our brains remembering what happened

Despite helping to record events, photos could damage our memories

Researchers found people who take pictures have trouble remembering what actually happened

This phenomenon has been dubbed 'photo-taking impairment effect'

From children’s birthdays to that long-awaited family holiday, we all want to remember those cherished moments with a photograph.



But if you’re one of those people who can’t stop snapping, beware – you could end up forgetting it all in a flash.



A study has found that taking too many photos may prevent us from forming detailed memories.



A crowd gathers around Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris. Researchers from Connecticut asked a group of students to recall what items in a museum looked like. Those who had taken photos of the artefacts were less able to describe them, while those who hadn't, remembered them more clearly

HOW THE WEB REPLACES MEMORY

Researchers from Harvard University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Columbia University in the U.S. recently found that many people now use the internet in place of a memory.

They claimed that when someone wants to know something they now use the Internet as an ‘external memory’ just as computers use an external hard drive. The study continued that we are now so reliant on smartphones and laptops, we go into ‘withdrawal when we can’t find out something immediately’.

Far from helping us to capture the moment, it could mean we miss what’s going on right in front of our noses.

Researchers led a group of students around a museum and asked them to either photograph or try to remember certain works of art and historical exhibits.



The next day, their memory was tested. It showed they were worse at recognising objects they had photographed than those they had only looked at. They were also poorer at recalling details of the objects they had taken pictures of.

Dr Linda Henkel, who conducted the study at Fairfield University in Connecticut, said: ‘People so often whip out their cameras almost mindlessly.

When people rely on technology to remember for them, it can have a negative impact on how well they remember their experiences.’



Previous studies have suggested that reviewing old photos can help us remember, but only if we spend long enough doing it.



‘In order to remember, we have to access and interact with the photos, rather than just amass them,’ said Dr Henkel.

Tourists take pictures at the Louvre, Paris as researchers say taking pictures worsens memory

