Increase Brain Function by Searching Internet
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: Internet, Brain, Cognitive, Search, UCLA | Themes: The Internet, Software
Searching the Internet may make you smarter.
Who needs a good puzzle when we have the Internet? According to a study by UCLA scientists, Web search activity may actually help stimulate--and possibly improve--brain function. This is more prominent with middle-aged and older adults, as searching the Internet triggers key centers in 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," said principal investigator Dr. Gary Small, a professor at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA who holds UCLA's Parlow-Solomon Chair on Aging. "Internet searching engages complicated brain activity, which may help exercise and improve brain function."
Small said that the natural process of aging--including atrophy and reductions in cell activity--impacts cognitive functions. Typically, crossword puzzles and games help preserve brain health and cognitive ability, however scientists are now beginning to study the effects of technology and computers use, including the Internet.
The report, released back on October 14, says that additional details on the study and further research as available in Small's just-released book, "iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind," published last Wednesday. To learn more about the study, check out Small's book, or read the rest of the report over on UCLA's newsroom here.
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Of course it increases brain activity. You're thinking! ANYTHING that makes you think increases brain activity! Reading, crosswords, fixing cars, playing video games. Your brain is an adaptive organ. God they need to do studies like this over and over to keep telling you the same things?
We already knew this!
That’s just the point. They only do these studies for the grant money. I mean think of all the stupid ones that they do. Of course there are some good studies that come out of these situations but for the most part they are just wasting funds. Perhaps it is their opinion that the rest of the world is naive and they must inform us that if you think then your brain becomes active.lol.
Any who, I am no scientist but my thoughts about why it would affect the middle aged more so than say a young teen, is because children and young adults are always thinking about something. Whether it be what to say when they call in to work so they can go to the beach or a small child day dreaming about becoming a pilot when they grow up. They think all the time. As we age I believe that we all get into this certain type of 'funk'. We go about our lives doing the same thing over and over again. In a since we are in a conscious comma. When we have to think of how to ask a certain question to get the results we are looking for it stimulates our brain more so than the everyday chores we do. Hence the heighten brain activity.
I should be a genius by now
What kind of taxpayer money are they wasting on these so-called "studies"???
"Internet searching engages complicated brain activity, which may help exercise and improve brain function."
study cost: $1 million
"Thinking engages complicated brain activity, which may help exercise and improve brain function."
study cost: free
It stimulates brain function because you have to try and figure out what combination of words will get the right results lol
They said the same thing with about facebook, tweeter (a bit less), tetris... now, how about a comparison? Searching the internet, just like controlling your equilibrium while staying comfortable on your bed and breathing in and breathing out, involves brain activity to a degree. What is better? And by how much? And how many millions of dollars do you want to give a vague and unverifiable answer to that?
Send me the check. You can PM me for the details.
The answer is that as long as you are male and are searching for porn then you have not only stimulated your brain but the little brain as well. This will also release endorphins in the brain making for a much happier experience, longer, and fuller life.
So does this mean Bing is bad for your brain?
To the people who are saying the study was a waste, psychology and brain function are a lot more complecated than that. Certain types of thinking are more beneficial than others. Particularly leaning new things vs repetative or previously learned tasks. So if you are working on basic math problems or something else you already know, it is nearly automatic and doesn't help the brain.
What they are working on is discovering various tasks for various groups of people that can create new neural connections and keep the mind from degrading from the repatative and previously learned tasks.
So yes, the studies are useful. As to whether the money they used was used in an efficiant way, I cannot say.
Sorry to everyone else for my rambling.
Thats not all it increases! @_@
Searching the internet may make you smarter...
Did they include 4chan in their research?
Searching the internet may make you smarter...Did they include 4chan in their research?
4chan may not make you a idiot, but it mst certainly introduce you to the world of tentacle rape, child porn, and killing small animals brutally... Don't worry, it's mostly limited to /b/, the rest is actually somewhat respectable...
I believe the internet helps on general intelligence because the users have a extremely expansive array of information easily available to them.
Without the internet, I likely would only know any informtion related to technology from my father and school, which both are extremely limited.
The internet is a tool that, in general, is better than sliced bread.