Sending text messages, consulting websites and e-mail access on mobile phones are activities that have the potential to affect the interaction between the brain and thumb, according to a study by researchers in Switzerland, Reuters said on Tuesday.

Arko Ghosh, professor at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, coordinated the study which focused on the use of electroencephalography to measure the activity of the cerebral cortex in the case of 37 right-handed people. Of these, 26 were using smart phones with touch screen and 11 using conventional mobile phones.

A total of 62 electrodes were placed in a cap worn by volunteers during electroencephalography to record how their brains process the sensation of touch receptors transmitted by the nerves of the thumb, forefinger and middle finger. Their activities were then compared with cerebral individual orders recorded in the history of each phone used in this study.

Electrical activity in the brain was stimulated smart phone users when all three fingers were used in order to achieve touchscreens. According to researcher Magali Chytiris activity of the cerebral cortex associated with your thumb and index finger was directly proportional to the intensity of use of the phone, based on energy usage reports stored in the phone's battery.

Arko Professor Ghosh said that the findings suggest that repetitive movements performed on touch screens of smart phones remodels sensory processes of the hand, the daily updates of how the fingertips are represented in the brain. Swiss researcher believes that sensation processing in the cortex of the human brain is modeled continuously contemporary digital technology customized.

Gosh Arko also say that the use of smart phones is an ideal way to explore the "malleability" of the human brain.

Swiss researchers study was published in the journal Current Biology.