Contrary to Nicholas Carr’s controversial theory, the internet may improve brain function - at least among older adults. Researchers from the Center on Aging at the University of California, Los Angeles discovered that searching the web creates great bursts of activity in their subject’s brains. Internet related activities created an increase in mental stimulation that was actually greater than other activities such as reading a book.
The Guardian reports:
In a study to be published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, the researchers say they examined the neurological activity of adults aged between 55 and 76 as they conducted a number of tasks.
The study took two groups of older people, one picked for their knowledge of the internet, the other for being less technologically adept. The participants were then placed inside an MRI scanner and asked to take part in a series of activities including reading books and performing internet searches.
While both groups saw overall brain activity increase during the tasks, the internet-based assignments created a greater burst of activity in the web-savvy users. In particular, the researchers said, they stimulated areas of the brain linked to decision making and reasoning – producing up to twice as much activity as their technologically challenged counterparts.
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