Get Googling, to Help Your Brain Function Better

Professor Gary Small, an aging expert at UCLA, has just released results from a new study of the benefits of Internet searching for middle-aged and older adults. They will be published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. The study was done because activities that keep the mind engaged, such as crossword puzzles or Sudoku, can help preserve brain health and mental ability.

The subjects were 24 normal volunteers aged 55 to 76. Half of them were experienced internet searchers, and the other half had no experience. Otherwise the two groups were similar. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) was used to record brain-circuitry changes during Internet use – the intensity of brain cell responses corresponds to the cerebral blood flow during a mental task.

The fMRI scans were obtained while the participants performed Web searches or undertook a book-reading task. All participants showed significant brain activity during the book-reading task, whether they were experienced Internet searchers or not. The regions responsible for language, reading, memory, and visual abilities were activated.

The Internet searching results differed between the two groups, however. All participants showed the same brain activity as that seen during the book-reading task, but the experienced Internet searchers also showed activity in brain areas responsible for decision-making and complex reasoning. In fact, there was a two-fold increase in brain activation in the experienced compared with the non-experienced Googlers. Professor Small summarizes: 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”.

Obviously, dear reader, you are an experienced internet user, as you’ve found this page. Well, keep moving and Googling still more, and you’ll turn back the years (or some of them, maybe).