Chelsea Pottenger checking your phone when you wake up is ruining your brain

Reaching for your smartphone first thing in the morning can do more harm than good, a new study has found. New research has revealed that a staggering 90 per cent of Australians engage in the habit of checking their cellphones first thing in the day Chelsea Pottenger carried out research that revealed the effects using a mobile first thing had on the brain 'When we first wake up, we transition from a delta brainwave of sleep into a theta brain wave - where the brain is more flexible and malleable,' explained Ms Pottenger, a PhD research candidate in psychology and neuroscience. People who engage with their phone first thing skip this important window of theta activity, and instead head straight into a beta brainwave of high stress. Speaking to 10Daily, the expert said flooding the brain with stressful information first thing made in virtually impossible to strengthen or create the neural pathways associated with positivity or optimism. A similar study to Ms Pottenger's carried out at Nottingham Trent University, found that the average amount of time people aged 18-33 check their phone is an astounding 85 times per day.