Theregularuseoftextmessagesande－mailscanlowertheIQmorethantwiceasmuchassmokingmarijuana。

Thatistheclaimofpsychologistswhohavefoundthattappingawayonamobilephoneorcomputerkeypadorcheckingthemforelectronicmessagestemporarilyknocksuptotenpointsofftheuser‘sIQ。

Thisrateofdeclineinintelligencecomparesunfavourablywiththefour－pointdropinIQassociatedwithsmokingmarijuana，accordingtoBritishresearchers，whohavelabelledthefleetingphenomenonofenhancedstupidityasinfomania。

ResearchonsleepdeprivationsuggeststhattheIQdropcausedbyelectronicobsessionisalsoequivalenttoawakefulnight。

Infomaniaismainlyaproblemforadultworkers，especiallymen，thestudycommissionedbyHewlettPackard，thetechnologycompany，hasconcluded。

ThenoticeabledropinIQisattributedtotheconstantdistractionofalwaysontechnologywhenemployeesshouldbeconcentratingonwhattheyarepaidtodo。Infomaniameansthattheyloseconcentrationastheirmindsremainfixedinanalmostpermanentstateofreadinesstoreacttotechnologyinsteadoffocusingonthetaskinhand。

Workersloseproductivitybyinterruptingabusinessmeetinganddisruptsocialgatheringsbecauseoftheirinfirmity，thereportsaid。

Thebrainalsofindsithardtocopewithjugglinglotsoftasksatonce，reducingitsoveralleffectiveness，itadded。Andwhilemoderntechnologycanhavehugebenefits，excessiveusecanbedamagingnotonlytoaperson‘smind，buttotheirsociallife。

Furthermore，infomaniaishavinganegativeeffectonworkcolleagues，increasingstressanddissentingfeelings。Nineoutoftenpolledthoughtthatcolleagueswhoanswerede－mailsormessagesduringaface－to－facemeetingwereextremelyrude。YetoneinthreeBritonsbelievesthatitisnotonlyacceptable，butactuallydiligentandefficienttodoso。

TheeffectsonIQwerestudiedbyDrGlennWilson，aUniversityofLondonpsychologist，aspartoftheresearchproject。Thisisaveryrealandwidespreadphenomenon，hesaid。Wehavefoundthatinfomania，ifunchecked，willdamageaworker‘sperformancebyreducingtheirmentalsharpness。Companiesshouldencourageamorebalancedandappropriatewayofworking。