Taking photos helps brain focus on visuals but blocks other senses

 You can stop telling millennials to put the phone down.

It’s a common complaint that young people spend too much time on their phone taking pictures instead of living in the moment. But a new study says that taking pictures helps people remember at least the visual aspect of an event.

The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, asked 294 participants to do a walk-through museum tour with an accompanying audio guide. Some were able to bring their camera, while others were asked to keep them stashed away. Afterwards, they were asked questions about the tour and asked to recall specific objects they may have seen.

The participants who could freely snap photos during the tour remembered more of what they’d seen but less of what they heard compared with those who couldn’t take any photos.