(Erik Jacobs for The New York Times)Many people search the Internet for health information. Now new research suggests that the simple act of Googling may be good for your brain health.
Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, have shown that searching the Internet triggers key centers in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning. The findings, to be published in the upcoming issue of The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, suggest that searching the Web helps to stimulate and may even improve brain function.
The U.C.L.A. researchers studied 24 healthy people between the ages of 55 and 76. Half of the study participants had experience searching the Internet, whereas the other half had no experience. Participants performed Web searches and book-reading tasks while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging scans, which measure the level of cerebral blood flow.
While all participants demonstrated the same brain activity during the book-reading task, the Web-savvy group also registered activity in areas of the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning, the researchers said.
“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 principal investigator Dr. Gary Small, director of U.C.L.A.’s Memory and Aging Research Center, in a press release.
“The study results are encouraging that emerging computerized technologies may have physiological effects and potential benefits for middle-aged and older adults,” Dr. Small said. “Internet searching engages complicated brain activity, which may help exercise and improve brain function.”
During Web searching, the Web-savvy volunteers showed a twofold increase in brain activation when compared with less-experienced tle Internet experience. The tiniest measurable unit of brain activity registered by the functional M.R.I. is called a voxel. During Internet searching, those with prior Web experience sparked 21,782 voxels, compared with only 8,646 voxels for those with less experience, according to the UCLA press release.
The researchers noted that compared with reading, the Internet’s wealth of choices requires that people make decisions about what to click on, an activity that engages important cognitive circuits in the brain. Dr. Small said the minimal brain activation shown by the less experienced Internet users may be due to the fact that it was a new experience, and the Web users weren’t yet adept at clicking around and making choices. He said that with more experience, the novice Web users may eventually demonstrate the same level of brain activity as the more computer-savvy participants.
“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,” Dr. Small said.
Dr. Small is the author of a new book, “iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind.”
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From 1 to 25 of 40 Comments
My brain loves to be feed!
It loves to be nourished and has my brainbuds asking for more!
What my brain does not like it skips and scans the Internet for new and more interesting food for thought!Food for the brain!
Don’t loose it,use it!(the brain).
PS TPP,you never cease to amaze me with new subjects you post,that too is food for thought!
— Mr.Happie G.LuckeeGood posture is important, too! At least one of those guys is headed for back problems if he spends much more time in that position!
— SusanGo for it. Spark a voxel. Have a sake.
Take care,
T.
— Tony DoyleUm, I think the old guy already HAS back problems, which is why he’s sitting like that. Probably from a lifetime of hard work standing on his feet… something today’s kids aren’t very well acquainted with!
— JenThat’s nice to know!
Besides web surfing it’s useful to know there’s a statistically significant lower incidence of Alzheimers in arthritic patients taking ibuprofen daily.
Blogging has important psychological benefits. Just because your children and the spouse tune you out doesn’t mean the world isn’t listening and hopefully learning!
— MARK KLEIN, M.D.As someone in the target age group (ahem!) of this survey, and also someone of the generation that Invented the thing, I see that prolonged use of and interaction with computers keeps us thinking hard and thinking well. The biggest problem, still, is that the Web is not well organized enough for users of any age to find what they’re looking for.
So it’s not Googling that will keep our brains young; Googling is like auto-dial. But learning how to find for ourselves the best information on the Web will make geniuses of us all.
— UrsulaInternet surfing lowers your IQ, and you read less.
— You TooHaving just read elsewhere in the NYTs about us Baby Boomers being a big part of the funeral industries growth plans I can use all the voxels I can find. Do we get extra voxels for posting comments?
— BruceI’m 75 and I am a cheerleader for computers. I sit in the lotus position and google my derriere off everyday. There’s such euphoria in wondering about something/someone, searching for the information; finding what you’re looking for and having the circle completed. My brain definitely thanks me.
Marly
— marlyAnd here, I thought it was the coffee! (grin)
— Rob L, N Myrtle Beach SCThat one guy appears to be reading up on the latest World of Warcraft expansion, no doubt anticipating his new Death Knight.
— AureliusCorrelation or causation? Perhaps those with more complicated brain activity were the ones more predisposed to search the Internet in the first place, which could explain the difference between the “regular user” and “not regular user” groups when both engaged in the same activity.
— Megan BDoes all surfing qualify? All internet surfing is not equally ‘virtuous’.
— Jon S.McCain should look into this.
— MattI agree, Jon. Many Google searches will lead you to a sea of dreck, and most Internet surfers cannot easily decipher between the good results and the bad ones. Poring through a site that is ranked high due to SEO shenanigans and that exists solely to generate money of contextual ads may excite the brain waves, but it won’t leave you any more informed.
— Mark M.Someone should have told John McCain… a decade ago…
— John G.How nice to know that I am doing something useful and healthy, and not just wasting time! Especially since I am old enough to remember when “computers” were people, usually women, who were hired to do math problems.
— bkSurfing the net, reading the NY Times, following blogs including these have all taught me an enormous amount, and may well have been increasing brain function.
But they’ve also been costing me valuable sleep time, so I see a trade-off here.
— Barbara‘voxel’? who knew?!
googling my way to wikipedia:
“A voxel (a portmanteau of the words volumetric and pixel) is a volume element, representing a value on a regular grid in three dimensional space….”
and on another page:
“Voxel based morphometry (VBM) is a neuroimaging analysis technique … One of the first VBM studies showed the back part of the hippocampus was on average larger in [London] taxi drivers compared to control subjects [which scientists attribute to their superior] spatial navigational skills.”
and just like that, i’ve learned a little about something that i hadn’t even heard of ten minutes earlier - awesome!
feeling voxel-licious - oh yeah, baby!!
— Hippo CratesNice to see that I still have hope! Especially since I’m building a new Internet marketing company with my son - AudetteMedia.
— John AudetteI’m middle aged in middle America and a handicapped survivor of two brain surgeries.
Thank god I didn’t listen to my first neuro-surgeon when he told me I was middle-aged and there was nothing I could do to regain lost cognitive ground or to speed brain healing.
I began forging new neural pathways by learning a second language. There are many marvelous, free websites and podcasts that assist in the learning and retention of languages.
I’ve also learned several other skills, some computer skills among them; how to format a computer, how to open and reconfigure viruses, how to make and edit complex videos…the list is only limited by my imagination, which is in turn fueled by the world that my computer brings to me.
As I slowly become housebound, the computer and the internet allow me access to a whole world. Now, there’s vindication for what I felt to be true all along. Internet/computer interaction is healthy for the aging brain.
I am lucky enough to have internet access. I would like to see some kind of volunteer program that puts computers and internet access into the hands of isolated handicapped and aging people across America. It would be good for their health, mentally and now, as this research shows, physically.
— KimSo if my 61 year-old husband spends 12 hours a day on pornographic sites on the world wide web, he will become more intelligent than I am? Sorry, the results from this study mean absolutely nothing. Don’t try to derive more from these statistics than trivial changes. It doesn’t quite jibe with good scientific research.
I’m active and a health care volunteer constantly interacting with people and helping with solutions to difficult problems. that keeps my brain very young. Not surfing the net.
— HelenBarbara - you got it right!
Health comes from a combination of several things - and a stellar brain on a weak body isn’t all that healthy. Because, sometimes, you want your body to take you to places. Movement, green nutrition, music, art, enough sleep - many things bring well-being. Don’t forget cold water - as in cold shower. Good for the immune system.
There also was a study that said sex is good for the brain…I vote for that!
Alexa Fleckenstein M.D., physician, author.
— Alexa Fleckenstein M.D.@Kim 9:10 PM
“I’m middle aged in middle America and a handicapped survivor of two brain surgeries.
Thank god I didn’t listen to my first neuro-surgeon when he told me I was middle-aged and there was nothing I could do to regain lost cognitive ground or to speed brain healing.”
-Kim
To Kim and others with brain injuries, always insist upon a consultation with a neuropsychologist-someone who specializes in actually measuring brain and behavior
interactions through comprehensive testing and behavioral observations, not mere speculation. Neuropsychologists also play a critical role in developing and implementing rehabilitation programs. This field has been around for quite sometime, but many, including a large number of physicians, know little about it. The Rusk Institute in Manhattan has been a pioneer in rehabilitation, although there are a number of local and national resources; for assessment, research and support. Google “neuropsychology,’ “neuropsychological assessment,” “cognitive remediation, “ “brain injury support,” etc. There is a lot of help out there for those with a history of brain trauma.
By the way, I love your initiative and courage. Glad to know you listened to your own inner voice!
— DanaI disagree with this study for one reason. It doesn’t include people with A.D.D. If I set out to research something, I usually end up with 5 different windows open regarding 5 different subjects. If your boss asks you to research a new software for a project at work and gives you a time frame to complete the task, this gives a person a more disciplined approach to surfing the internet with the specific intent in mind. The time constraints add to the ability to accomplish this one goal.
— Dave