Brain Scans Justify Time Online: Get Online - Brain Activity Improves in One Week

Good news for those of us who spend far too much time on the internet. Brain scans have justified time online by showing that brain activity increases, which leads to the likely conclusion that brain atrophy slows or possibly stops.

UCLA Brain Scan Images

This FOX News article reports a UCLA study that compared a small sampling of 24 persons, between the ages of 55 and 78, divided into two groups with similar ages and genders in both groups. One group were experienced in daily internet use prior to the study, and the second group had little experiece online.

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.

 Even in UCLA studies previous to this one, they found that "searching online resulted in a more than twofold increase in brain activation in older adults...." The good news is, whether younger than 55 or older than 55, online searches stimulate the brain. I assume, however, that some sources for brain stimulation are other better than others - just guessing.

UCLA's Dr. Gary Small, the author of this study and a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA said:

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...

Read the entire article at FOX News. Thanks to FOX and UCLA for the brain scan image.