According to a new study from the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Behavior at UCLA, using the Internet and other types of communication technology can boost aging brains.
According to principal investigator Dr. Gary Small, a professor at Semel and holder of UCLA’s Parlow-Solomon Chair on Aging, the research is the first to look at the impact of Internet search activity on brain function. The results of the research will be formally published in an upcoming issue of 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,” Small said. “Internet searching engages complicated brain activity, which may help exercise and improve brain function.”
The subjects studied by Small and his team were 24 individuals between the ages of 55 and 76. Half the group had extensive experience online, while the other half were Internet novices.
The research team performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans on the subjects while they engaged in two activities, reading and searching the Web. The fMRI scans are designed to detect changes in brain activity when an individual engages in various activities; specifically, the devices measure cellular activity in the brain by measuring blood flow as each task is performed.
It has long been known that reading is a beneficial activity for the elderly, since it engages several areas of the brain, including the regions that control language, memory, visual abilities, and the ability to read itself. But what apparently surprised researchers was how much of the brain was involved in searching the Internet.
“Our most striking finding,” Small said, “was that Internet searching appears to engage a greater extent of neural circuitry that is not activated during reading.”
In addition to all the areas of the brain activated by reading,…