LiveLongAgeWell

We all have different levels of Internet savviness, but no matter what your comfort level with the computer, you might be happy to know that the very act of doing Internet searches may make our brains “stronger”. Neuroscientists have long known that our brains—just like our muscles—need to be stimulated and exercised to stay flexible and to grow new synapses (connections between brain cells). In general, the more the stimulation, the better our brains function as we get older.

A recent study from UCLA examined two different groups of middle-aged and older adults, aged 55 to 76.  One group was already Internet “savvy”, and the other group was not. The researchers had the two groups perform Google-type search activity while they were put through an MRI brain scan that measured their real-time brain function. The group that was already Internet savvy showed twice as much activity in parts of the brain responsible for complex reasoning and decision-making. The conclusion was that if you use the Internet regularly for searching tasks (as opposed to downloading music or watching videos for example), your brain may become more open to further stimulation.  And again, for our brains, the more stimulation the better.

This study was small and far from perfect, and over the next few years there will be many more studies of how computers affect our brains. Perhaps computer use over time actually rewires our brains to become more efficient. In the meantime though, you might use this study to encourage older family members and friends who perhaps could use more brain stimulation, to really push themselves to use their computers.