Human memory declines due to smartphone use.

Over-reliance on Google and smartphones has led people to forget the phone numbers of their loved ones, causing a condition known as "digital amnesia".

An MRI scan of a brain. Photo: Telegraph

According to a study by security software company Kaspersky, nearly 50% of adults in the UK cannot remember their partner's phone number, and 71% of them forget their children's phone numbers, the Telegraph reports.

Over 50% of those surveyed aged 16-24 said their smartphones store all their important contacts and information.

"We need to understand the long-term significance of remembering and protecting essential information. Remembering the phone numbers of the people most important to us is now just a click away, so people don't remember the details anymore," said David Emm, a Kaspersky engineer.

Dr. Kathryn Mills, from the UCL Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience (UK), commented, "Forgetting isn't necessarily a bad thing. We are adaptive creatures; we don't remember everything because that's not to our advantage. But forgetfulness becomes harmful if it causes us to forget information we absolutely need to remember."

According to a Microsoft study earlier this year, people's attention spans have decreased by 12 seconds since 2000, or by 8 seconds since the mobile revolution began in 2010. A 2012 study showed that many schools are concerned that children cannot concentrate for long periods and prefer to spend more time online than reading.

According to VnExpress