Two weeks ago, reports touting the neuroprotective effects of surfing the web started flooding health media outlets. Researchers at UCLA found that an hour a day keeps memories in play by stimulating actively in parts of the brain involved in memory, learning, language processing, and problem solving.
The study took healthy volunteers, between the ages of 55 and 78, and scanned their brains while they surfed the internet. Half of the participants were novice web-users. After browsing the web for one hour a day (for at least seven days), their brain activity while surfing was similar to the more habitual surfers.
"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, one of the project’s researchers.
Since a normal aging brain is not experiencing the same type of memory loss and cognitive decline as those with early or advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, the benefits of computer use still needs to be investigated..
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