Broadband Brain Boost

By Brad

A new study out of UCLA finds that daily Internet use can boost the brain activity of senior citizens. Reports Medical News Today:

The results showed that at the first scan, the brains of participants with little Internet experience showed activity in regions that control language, reading, memory and visual ability. These are in the frontal, temporal, parietal, visual and posterior cingulate regions of the brain.

At the second scan, after practising searching the Internet for 7 days over 2 weeks at home, the brains of the Internet novices showed activity in the same regions as before, but this time there was new activity in the middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus, the parts of the brain that are important for working memory and decision-making.

In fact, after just seven days of using the Internet at home, the novice Internet users showed brain activitation patterns that were very similar to those seen in the group of experienced Internet users, said the researchers.

Though promising, the research reveals drawbacks — namely, that convincing seniors to adopt the Internet remains a challenge.