How Digital Technology Is Aging Us—and What We Can Do About It Monday, May 2, 2022

With the relentless march of digital technology over the last few decades, we’ve seen a contemporary society increasingly focused on making life faster, easier, convenient, more comfortable. But there’s an underside to this pervasive technology. Modernity is working against many of our physical, intellectual and emotional needs, according to a growing body of research. It’s actually making us age faster. In today’s episode, Dr. Sherry Kelly, a widely recognized clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist, talks about her 30 years’ experience researching and exploring ways to keep our brain vibrant in the digital age. It’s a not an easy challenge. Even as the pandemic recedes, there’s still not enough face-to-face time or time spent outdoors; we remain entrenched in a 24-hour news cycle, an enclosed world of social media and streaming; and a largely sedentary lifestyle. Yet each of us has more power than we may think to control aging, says Dr. Kelly. We do have choices and options, but they often require us to be proactive, to change our lifestyle, gain emotional flexibility and revise our personal expectations. A frequent lecturer on neuroscience, health and wellness, and positive psychology, Dr. Kelly will provide her insights on how managing digital technology can help prevent cognitive decline, as well as describe her work with children, researching the impact of digital technology and social media on the development of social skills in youth. Along with her daughter, Kaitlyn Kelly, she founded PositiviTeens Workshops, which provide coaching, and webinars to educate diverse audiences about how digital technology is not only affecting the social skills in youth, but changing developing brains. As a young teen, Kaitlyn was personally impacted by the high school shooting in her childhood hometown of Parkland, Fla., when she witnessed the unfolding violence upon friends and neighbors via unfiltered social media.