SCIENTISTS at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have found that using the internet helps to boost brain power.
This is reportedly the first such study to assess the impact of internet use on brain performance.
Lead researcher Dr Gary Small said: "Internet searching engages complicated brain activity, which may help exercise and improve brain function."
Funded by the Parvin Foundation, the 2008 study involved 24 participants aged between 55 and 76. Half were experienced internet users, the rest were not.
Comparing web-searching and book-reading
Study participants each took a brain scan while surfing and searching the internet, and also during the more mundane task of reading books.
Both types of tasks showed significant activity in parts of the brain controlling language, reading, memory and visual abilities.
But the internet tasks indicated significant additional activity in another area of the brain which controls decision-making and complex reasoning.
In experienced internet users, this activity was most evident.
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