Using the Internet improves brain function in older people – reported researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles. They invited a group of people aged 55 to 78 years to surf the Internet, while connecting them to a magnetic resonance imaging. After the initial registration of brain scans, subjects were instructed that the next two weeks to enjoy the Internet for an hour a day. Then they were re-examined.
Prior to the test half of the seniors used the Internet daily, while the other half was with him only sporadic contact. At the beginning of the study the brains of people used the Internet showed a higher level of activation, but after two weeks of Internet novices quickly match for their more experienced colleagues.
Even the old brain can learn to associate with new technologies – said prof. Gary Small, co-author of the study. – As a result of Internet use clearly increased brain activity, especially in parts responsible for making decisions about what seems so sensible that surfing the Web, after a lot of decisions we make – he adds.
The same study researchers at the University of California, is another argument for the thesis that the key to maintaining mental capacity until old age is the continuous stimulation of the brain, for example by learning new skills or activities that require frequent decision-making.