Is the Internet Good for Your Brain?
However you came across this site; to get here you had to make a decision. Whilst surfing the net, you encountered a web page that contained a wealth of information, and with that you had to decide which parts of the page to focus on and which links on the page would provide you with the information you seek. You then had to decide which link you would pursue based on your judgement and you decided which one would best satisfy your informational needs.
While this process i just described occurred beyond your awareness, you may not also be aware that what you have done for several years and what you are doing now is beneficial for your brain health.
A study i read on PsychCentral, entitled Web Searches May Improve Brain Function gives us insight into the benefits of surfing the web. The study was conducted on participants aged between 55 and 76, where half of them had experience with the internet and the other half did not have any experience with the net whatsoever. I don’t want to go into too much detail but they recorded the participants’ brain activity whilst undertaking a reading and a web search activity. Whilst the brain activity for the reading activity was the same for the internet users and non internet users, there was a difference between the two groups when they undertook the internet searching task. The internet users showed activation in the parts of their brain that control decision making and complex reasoning, whereas the non internet users did not show this activation.
These results are directly relevant to older adults. It is common knowledge that as we get older, we need to keep our brain active by doing activities such as hobbies, crosswords and puzzles. But this research suggests that the simple everyday act of searching the web can keep our brains active and hence improve brain functioning as we get older.
As Dr. Gary Small, the author of the research concluded, “A simple, everyday task like searching the web appears to enhance brain circuitry in older adults, demonstrating that our brains are sensitive and can continue to learn as we grow older,”
It is also interesting to think about the results of this study in terms the impact of the internet on younger adults as well. Because the internet has become part of our everyday lives, children now use the internet daily for information searching and social networking. As far as i can remember, I have been consistently using the internet since i was 10 and i don’t plan to stop surfing the net anytime soon. Perhaps the introduction of the internet is going to produce a generation of healthy brained people and it will be interesting to see if web searching can reduce some of the negative effects of ageing. If older adults show increased activation after using the internet for about 10 years, then imagine the activation the young adults of today will show when they are 55 (after using the internet for over 40 years).
Just a thought.
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2 comments
Jo on November 4, 2008 at 4:31 am
Do you think that using the internet develops problem solving in a substantive way?
Take this as an example: at first it is a pain to write a bibiliography. In time we learn to read articles by flicking back to the references and interpreting everthing that is said in the context of its provenance - who said it, from which lab, from what general line of work, at what time in history, etc. To me this is the skill we teach students when we insist on references.
Gen Y though, seem to have developed the same skill for interpreting internet material. Indeed, I suspect older/less experienced users are more likely to be taken in by nonsense on the net. What do you think?
Trudy on November 4, 2008 at 4:58 am
That’s funny you say that because i was actually thinking about that yesterday.
Yesterday on twitter, @papg posted this tweet;
If Wikipedia is so “unreliable” as most teachers say, why don’t institutions encourage correcting the appropriate subject matter?
I replied to this with:
@papg institutions don’t want it to be that easy to find information; because typing into wiki does not involve hours of research
So yes i agree with you. While the internet may improve decision making skills and complex reasoning, there are many negative aspects of using the internet. The information on the internet is not always reliable and of course younger adults are more critical of the content on the net (i guess this would depend on education level). But being critical of dodgy information on the net is a learned skill that older/less experienced users could easily overcome with more exposure.
But perhaps research has become too easy for younger adults. I know, as i am a student, that the internet spoonfeeds all the content to you; you no longer need to have an opinion because you can just get one off the internet.
In my opinion, the internet is discouraging students and younger users from integrating information, processing it and forming their own informed opinion.