The Internet makes you smarter?
There are many who cry that the Internet is dumbing us all down. Now comes a study that says the contrary, at least for an older age group. Actually, it is not the content of the Internet but the intellectual activity of searching on the Internet that is supposed to sharpen us up:
Could it be that the Internet actually — gasp! — makes you smarter?
That’s the word from a team of scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, who reported this week that new Internet users between the ages of 55 and 78 improved their scores on decision-making and complex reasoning tests after just seven days online. The researchers said they found that surfing the Web seemed to stimulate neural activity and possibly enhance cognitive functioning in those mature Internet beginners.
Just a week online increased brain activity twofold in the oldest Internet users studied, according to the scientists.
“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, a UCLA senior research associate, in a statement.
So fire up your browser and Google away.
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