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Milkman · 21-10-2009, 11:42 PM

There are positive effects for those who are online (internet).

Here's an article from a neuroscience meeting.

How about you?

Do you notice any changes in your brain since going online? I feel I can multi-task and get information stored/absorbed better.

Can't prove it, but it seems being online is more proactive that listening to radio or watching TV for information and entertainment.

Quote:

Adults with little Internet experience show changes in their brain activity after just one week online, a new study finds.

The results suggest Internet training can stimulate neural activation patterns and could potentially enhance brain function and cognition in older adults.

As the brain ages, a number of structural and functional changes occur, including atrophy, or decay, reductions in cell activity and increases in complex things like deposits of amyloid plaques and tau tangles, which can impact cognitive function.

Research has shown that mental stimulation similar to the stimulation that occurs in individuals who frequently use the Internet may affect the efficiency of cognitive processing and alter the way the brain encodes new information.

"We found that for older people with minimal experience, performing Internet searches for even a relatively short period of time can change brain activity patterns and enhance function," Dr. Gary Small, study author and professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, said in a statement.

The UCLA team worked with 24 neurologically normal volunteers between the ages of 55 and 78. Prior to the study, half the participants used the Internet daily, while the other half had very little experience. Age, educational level and gender were similar between the two groups.

The participants performed Web searches while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans, which recorded the subtle brain-circuitry changes experienced during this activity. This type of scan tracks brain activity by measuring the level of blood flow in the brain during cognitive tasks. While the study involves a small number of people and more research on this topic is needed, small study sizes are typical of fMRI-based research.

After the initial brain scan, subjects went home and conducted Internet searches for one hour a day for a total of seven days over a two-week period. These practice searches involved using the web to answer questions about various topics by exploring different websites and reading information. Participants then received a second brain scan using the same Internet simulation task, but with different topics.

The first scan of participants with little Internet experience showed brain activity in the regions controlling language, reading, memory and visual abilities. The second brain scan of these participants, conducted after the home practice searches, demonstrated activation of these same regions, but there was also activity in the middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus – areas of the brain known to be important in working memory and decision-making.

Thus, after Internet training at home, participants with minimal online experience displayed brain activation patterns very similar to those seen in the group of savvy Internet users.

"The results suggest that searching online may be a simple form of brain exercise that might be employed to enhance cognition in older adults," Teena D. Moody, the study's first author and UCLA researcher, said in a statement.

When performing an online search, the ability to hold important information in working memory and to take away the important points from competing graphics and words is essential, Moody noted.

Previous research by the UCLA team found that searching online resulted in a more than twofold increase in brain activation in older adults with prior experience, compared with those with little Internet experience. The new findings suggest that it may take only days for those with minimal experience to match the activity levels of those with years of experience, said Small.

Additional studies will be needed to address the impact of the Internet on younger individuals and help identify aspects of online searching that generate the greatest levels of brain activation.

The findings were presented Oct. 19 at the meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago, Illinois.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,...est=latestnews

Sdigit · 21-10-2009, 11:46 PM

It either gives me a wacking great headache or makes my knob sore.

Marmite the Dog · 22-10-2009, 08:09 AM

All good and well, but I think my brain is fighting a losing battle with the Thai brain power drain that seems to happen with anyone who lives here for a while.

Jet Gorgon · 22-10-2009, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Milkman

There are positive effects for those who are online (internet).
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,...est=latestnews

Fox News quote, huh, Milkie?

StrontiumDog · 25-10-2009, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

All good and well, but I think my brain is fighting a losing battle with the Thai brain power drain that seems to happen with anyone who lives here for a while.

I know what you mean!

If I start reading comic books, someone take me out the back and put me out of my misery.

Jet Gorgon · 25-10-2009, 12:50 PM

Hello, Milkie???

MustavaMond · 03-11-2009, 12:05 PM

Mmmmm I think doing ANY new activity, as the test subject were inexperienced- will cause " new neural activity.."

Reading is also very brain labour intensive ..
Actually I find these forum sites are not condusive to well being. I'm far more content staying off them but being a human with a voice I wish heard- or read...

03-11-2009, 12:05 PM	#7 (permalink)
MustavaMond Phatthalung Last Online: Yesterday 09:16 AM Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 662	Mmmmm I think doing ANY new activity, as the test subject were inexperienced- will cause " new neural activity.." Reading is also very brain labour intensive .. Actually I find these forum sites are not condusive to well being. I'm far more content staying off them but being a human with a voice I wish heard- or read... __________________ Profiteering From War and Disease, Corporate Owned "News" Media Deliberately Dis-Informs in Order to Further Its Own Agenda- PROFIT

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21-10-2009, 11:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
Sdigit It wasn't me Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: All the way over there> Posts: 2,345	It either gives me a wacking great headache or makes my knob sore.

22-10-2009, 08:09 AM	#3 (permalink)
Marmite the Dog ผู้เชี่ยวชาญเปล่า Last Online: Today 12:54 PM Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Simian Islands Posts: 30,356	All good and well, but I think my brain is fighting a losing battle with the Thai brain power drain that seems to happen with anyone who lives here for a while.

25-10-2009, 12:50 PM	#6 (permalink)
Jet Gorgon Jihad Barbie Last Online: Today 03:29 PM Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Near Libbies Posts: 12,479	Hello, Milkie???

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