CHICAGO – Internet use may help older adults think and reason more clearly, according to new research from the University of California, Los Angeles. Scientists say experimentation indicates after just one week of Web use, middle-age and older adults with little to no experience with the internet were able to improve decision-making and complex reasoning.The findings, presented Oct. 19 during a Chicago meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, leads researchers to believe mental stimulation provided by the internet may allow aging brains to prevent common structural and functional cognitive changes associated with aging. In addition, internet use may help older adults teach their brains to process information in more efficient ways and form new types of mental connections.
“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,” said study author Dr. Gary Small, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA and the author of iBrain, a book that describes the impact of new technology on the brain and behavior.
The UCLA research 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.
Study participants performed Web searches while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans, which recorded the subtle brain-circuitry changes experienced during the activity. fMRI scans track brain activity by measuring the level of cerebral blood flow during cognitive tasks.
After the initial brain scan, participants went home and conducted one-hour-daily internet searches for seven days over a two-week period. The practice searches required participants to use the Internet 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 demonstrated brain activity in regions controlling language, reading, memory and visual abilities, which are located in the frontal, temporal, parietal, visual and posterior cingulate regions, researchers said. The second brain scan of these participants, conducted after the practice internet searches, demonstrated activation of the same regions, as well as triggering of 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 — after just a brief period of time.
“The results suggest that searching online may be a simple form of brain exercise that might be employed to enhance cognition in older adults,” said Teena D. Moody, the study’s lead author and a senior research associate at the Semel Institute at UCLA.
When performing an internet search, the ability to hold important information in working memory and to extract the important points from competing graphics and words is essential, Moody noted.
Previous research by the UCLA team found 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. According to Small, the new findings suggest it may take only days for those with minimal experience to match the activity levels of those with years of experience.
Additional studies may 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 study was funded by the Parvin Foundation.
