Is AI Making You Forget How to Think? A Neuroscientist Explains

AI and your brain: what happens to your memory, focus, and judgment when a machine does the hard thinking for you? We first aired this last year. It's worth a second listen.

In the year since, AI has moved into almost every part of daily life: work email, homework, health questions, even the late-night conversations people used to have with a friend. In this episode, I walk through what cognitive offloading does to your mind and brain, why confident-sounding AI is so easy to believe, and how to use these tools while keeping your own voice and judgment.

🔬 What you'll learn:

• Why you remember less when you know you can look it up later (the Google Effect)

• How automation bias makes AI feel right even when it gets the facts wrong

• Why AI emotional support can't replace another person in the room

• Three practical ways to let your mind manage AI, so you keep your memory, voice, and discernment

• What's at stake for kids growing up with chatbots before they learn to trust themselves

💛 Thank you to our sponsors:

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📚 Resources mentioned: Sparrow, Liu & Wegner (2011), Google Effects on Memory, Science Help in a Hurry: helpinahurrybook.com

🔗 1:1 Coaching with Dr. Leaf: drleaf.com/coaching-1-1

New episodes every Wednesday.

#DrCarolineLeaf #AIandYourBrain #CognitiveOffloading #Neuroscience #MentalHealth #BrainScience

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