Credit: iStockphoto
WASHINGTON DC: Searching the Internet stimulates brain activity in the elderly and middle-aged and may help keep their minds sharp, researchers have found.
The study was carried out by scientists at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and published this week in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
"The study results are encouraging, that emerging computerized technologies may have physiological effects and potential benefits for middle-aged and older adults," said Gary Small, lead researcher behind the study.
"Complicated brain activity"
"Internet searching engages complicated brain activity, which may help exercise and improve brain function," added Small, who is a professor at UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.
His team found that – in a similar way to computer games and puzzles – searching the web triggers key centres in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning and may help stimulate and possibly improve brain function.
The researchers tested 24 neurologically normal research volunteers between the ages of 55 and 76, half with experience searching the Internet and half with no experience.
The study participants performed Web searches and book-reading tasks while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans, which record brain-circuitry changes.
Keeping the mind engaged
They all showed significant brain activity during book reading and web searching, but the Internet-savvy group registered a two-fold increase in brain activation during web use when compared with those with little Internet experience.
They said the web-savvy group also registered greater activity in the frontal, temporal and cingulate areas of the brain, which control decision-making and complex reasoning.
"Our most striking finding was that Internet searching appears to engage a greater extent of neural circuitry that is not activated during reading – but only in those with prior Internet experience," said Small
The study authors noted that their findings are the latest to suggest that complex activity that keeps the mind engaged, such as crossword puzzles or sodoku, may help keep the brain healthy.
"A simple, everyday task like searching the web appears to enhance brain circuitry in older adults, demonstrating that our brains are sensitive and can continue to learn as we grow older," Small said.
Go Googling
It is obvious that while searching the web, brain's areas those help us taking logical decisions, work heavily. And thus keep our brain sharp, as you told in your post. The UCLA team of researchers also said that web searching fight nicely against slow down of brain. So to keep the brain more active,keep searching the web.
-----------------------------------------
computer support