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Surfing The Web Stimulates Older Brains
Web-Savvy Baby Boomers, Seniors Plumb
More Regions of the Brain During Internet Searches
By Julie Edgar
WebMD Health News
Googling is good for Grandpa and Grandma, says a new
study by researchers at UCLA.
The
study, which looked at brain activity during web
searches, resulted in a fascinating finding:
Middle-aged to older adults who know their way
around the Internet had more stimulation of
decision-making and complex reasoning areas of the
brain than peers who were new to web surfing.
What’s more, reading didn’t stimulate the same
number of brain areas as Internet searching.
The
UCLA study, funded by the Parvin Foundation,
involved 24 adults from 55 to 78 years old, half of
whom had experience searching the web from once a
day to many times a day. The other half reported
using the Internet never to once a month. The
participants didn't have any neurological conditions
such as dementia and were similar in age and
educational level.
In
order to measure brain activity during reading and
web searches, the 24 adults underwent functional
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans while
separately performing both activities, either a new
Internet search or reading text on a computer screen
that was formatted to look like a book.
While reading stimulated the same areas of the brain
in both groups, those who regularly searched the
Internet showed twice the increase in brain activity
when performing the new Internet search than their
counterparts, especially in the areas of the brain
that control decision making and complex reasoning.
“The
study results are encouraging, that emerging
computerized technologies may have physiological
effects and potential benefits for middle-aged and
older adults,” says principal investigator Gary
Small, a professor at the Semel Institute for
Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA and director
of the campus’ Memory and Aging Research Center.
“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.”
Small concludes that the more experience the subject
had in searching, the greater it engaged a person's
brain.
Although Internet use has increased among all age
groups, far fewer boomers and seniors search the Web
daily, according to the Pew Internet & American Life
Project. The report, released in August, says 40% of
people 50 to 64 years old and 27% of adults 65 and
older are getting information online every day,
compared to about 55% of those 18 to 49. The study
surveyed 2,251 adults 18 and older from April 8 to
May 11 of this year.
Small acknowledges that the less web-savvy people
might not have grasped the strategies for accessing
information online, but with more time “may
demonstrate the same brain activation patterns as
the more experienced group.”
©
WebMD. All rights reserved.
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“The study results are encouraging, that
emerging computerized technologies may have
physiological effects and potential benefits for
middle-aged and older adults” |
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