Internet Use Can Be Good For the Brain

ddelmonte writes "This Washington Post article examines a test conducted at UCLA. The test had two groups, young people who used the Internet, and older people who had never been online. Both groups were asked to do Internet searches and book reading tasks while their brain activity was monitored. 'We found that in reading the book task, the visual cortex — the part of the brain that controls reading and language — was activated,' Small said. 'In doing the Internet search task, there was much greater activity, but only in the Internet-savvy group.' He said it appears that people who are familiar with the Internet can engage in a much deeper level of brain activity. 'There is something about Internet searching where we can gauge it to a level that we find challenging,' Small said. In the aging brain, atrophy and reduced cell activity can take a toll on cognitive function. Activities that keep the brain engaged can preserve brain health and thinking ability. Small thinks learning to do Internet searches may be one of those activities."

Highly interesting

[Apple Acolyte]

I suppose young people have a perfectly fine excuse for our Internet addictions: We're just making use of our brains! I do wonder whether older people would yield increased brain activity similar to younger users when studied over a period of increased Internet usage.

Re:i dunno

[Anonymous Coward]

Paul Graham has a good article on avoiding distractions.

Try developing on a machine with no net connection, for a start.

walking proof

[Anonymous Coward]

I would say thats accurate i suffered a sub arachnoid hematoma which is a major brain hemmorhage. During my long recovery my family purchased a computer. i have been the i.t. support i had an iq of 120 before anuerysm now its 126. I credit my rise from babbling moron to internet savvy on the range of tasks that i have to keeping up with being computer admin for the family.also one of the joys of my days is coming here to \. and trying to understand the complex world of internet technology and of course the high browed humor here.Which at times takes a rhodes scholar to understand. thank you all

Re:i dunno

[morgan_greywolf]

That's why I try, as much as possible, to get API and language reference documentation in a format for offline viewing other than HTML -- if I'm looking up the parameters of, say, a GtkSpinBox callback or the methods of a PyGTK gtk.Assistant object, and I look in a web browser I'm always tempted to load a new tab to someplace like Slashdot. :/

no more

[RemoWilliams84]

Use brain make tired... no more searchy.

Seriously though. Of course someone who is younger and has used the internet before is going to be more interested at sitting in front of a computer, therefore increased brain stimulation. Do the same thing with a old guy that likes to play chess and a young guy that only likes to play flash based dress up doll games and see if the opposite doesn't happen.

False Conclusion

[molotovjester]

There are so many missing controls and unaccounted variables in this study that it makes my brain hurt.

Older people by nature may not engage in as deep level of thought in any activity.

Also, the younger people are probably problem solving by attempting to construct the most accurate search terms that returns the best results for what they want.

This is the same as learning to problem solve in any activity - including those outside of the internet.

Re:Hai

[thedonger]

I think you are using the Internet wrong. It is a tool for research, discovery, and much more. It should stimulate your desire to learn and exercise your ability to sort through the noise to find useful information. Crafting an Internet search on Google, for example, is far more than knowing a few terms. And that will continue to become more important as the noise outpaces the signal.

Unless you are using it as a surrogate for a real life, in which case it probably will dim your bulb. OTOH, perhaps that just means we need a different IQ test.

Re:i dunno

[McDutchie]

i found my attention span has gone to dogs since the advent of the internet and each year it gets worse

You're not the only one [theatlantic.com]...

Re:Hold the ...

[TheLink]

Kind of surprising actually.

I believe the convention has it that for a particular task, expert brains have less activity than novice brains.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0003270 [plosone.org]

http://www.jstor.org/pss/1576979 [jstor.org]

Re:i dunno

[somersault]

Best. Article. Evar.

I also used to read a lot, and didn't consider that the internet might make me less able to read novels as well as just sucking up all the time that I used to spend reading or doing other things which I considered more productive.

These days I find myself shying away from activities that I know I'd want to spend more than a couple of hours on to get the most out of them (reading, or even playing certain computer games). I had thought it was just me poorly organising my time - which of course it still is, and I've been making a point of trying to read more recently - rather than my brain working differently due to my web browsing habits. I think there's a lot of truth in that notion though.

I was far more able to concentrate on coding or reading in the days before I had net access. It's just a necessity for the way most people work these days though, and basically seems like an addiction when outside of work.

I partially disagree

[cavis]

It is very apparent to me, as it likely is to most of you, that the advent of the Internet is certainly one of the greatest technological advances of our lifetimes. However, when you get more information than you can process, and when your interests get so varied that you can't possibly absorb all of it, I would think that your mind, your work, or your lifestyle would actually suffer.

Let me give you an example. My daily read list keeps expanding: 2 local newspapers, CNN.com, wired.com, slashdot.com, fredmiranda.com, pcmag.com, and even 4chan.com/b/ from time to time. That list doesn't account for the things that pop up during the day. How on earth can a person absorb all that, much less make time to read them all?

So what about young people whose interests are more varied? You pile porn and youtube on top of what they should be doing in a day's time (like attending classes or studying) and what then? How can unlimited access to all information be a good thing for everyone?

Of course, my opinions are just that and are not based in fact at all, other than my own experiences.

Article is misquoted

[Snoobic]

It says nothing about dividing groups based on age. In face, it says: "(The) team studied 24 normal volunteers between the ages of 55 and 76. Half were experienced at searching the Internet and the other half had no Web experience. Otherwise, the groups were similar in age, gender and education. Both groups were asked to do Internet searches and book reading tasks while their brain activity was monitored." It actually appears to me that the team made an effort to factor out other potential variables. Still, correlation is not causation. The next logical study would be to take another mixed group of non-internet users and do a baseline study. Measure visual cortex activity, train them to use the internet regularly, and then measure VC activity again months later.