The Internet improves people's ability to make snap decisions and filter large amounts of information, according to a new study.
In the study, Gary Small, director of the memory and ageing research centre at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that the brains of those tested were markedly more active when carrying out Internet searches than when reading books.
Popularity of Television on the Internet Rising Rapidly
It's been a long time coming but television on the Internet appears finally to be taking off, opening up a new viewing experience for free and helping to fight online piracy.
Advertisement
However, the stimulation was particularly in the areas that control decision-making and complex reasoning. Areas associated to abstract thinking and empathy showed virtually no increase in stimulation.
"Young people are growing up immersed in this technology and their brains are more malleable, more plastic and changing than with older brains," Times Online quoted Small, as saying.
![Match Made on the Internet is the New Dictum for Asians in Britain]( "Match Made on the Internet is the New Dictum for Asians in Britain")
Many British Asians prefer to find their life partners through the medium of the internet. This new trend is in contrast to the old tradition
"The next generation, as [Charles] Darwin suggests, will adapt to this environment. Those who become really good at technology will have a survival advantage - they will have a higher level of economic success and their progeny will be better off," he added.
For the study, Small scanned the brains of 24 volunteers and found that browsing websites stimulated the frontal, temporal and cingulate areas of the brain, which control complex reasoning.
Older users and those who had not previously tried the Internet all showed similar effects.
Baroness Greenfield, director of the Royal Institution and author of ID: The Quest for Identity in the 21st Century, said: "The hypothesis in iBrain is that natural selection will weed out people with brains that are more emotional or more capable of abstract thought and that we will be left with people who are more autistic in tendency. I would agree."
However, Igor Aleksander, emeritus professor of neural systems engineering at Imperial College London, said: "It may be that by using the Internet you stimulate different parts of the brain. However, it would be difficult to show this could not be achieved through other situations."
The study is to be published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Source: ANI
SPH
Match Made on the Internet is the New Dictum for Asians in Britain
Many British Asians prefer to find their life partners through the medium of the internet. This new trend is in contrast to the old tradition
Advertisement
"The next generation, as [Charles] Darwin suggests, will adapt to this environment. Those who become really good at technology will have a survival advantage - they will have a higher level of economic success and their progeny will be better off," he added.
For the study, Small scanned the brains of 24 volunteers and found that browsing websites stimulated the frontal, temporal and cingulate areas of the brain, which control complex reasoning.
Older users and those who had not previously tried the Internet all showed similar effects.
Baroness Greenfield, director of the Royal Institution and author of ID: The Quest for Identity in the 21st Century, said: "The hypothesis in iBrain is that natural selection will weed out people with brains that are more emotional or more capable of abstract thought and that we will be left with people who are more autistic in tendency. I would agree."
However, Igor Aleksander, emeritus professor of neural systems engineering at Imperial College London, said: "It may be that by using the Internet you stimulate different parts of the brain. However, it would be difficult to show this could not be achieved through other situations."
The study is to be published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Source: ANI
SPH
Internet Dating Making Women 'vulnerable to Assault'
A woman's first response is often: 'I can't believe he did this, he seemed like such a nice man' .
Advertisement
 Low-Income Mothers Trust The Internet For Nutrition InformationThe Internet is a low-income mother's best friend when it comes to gathering information on nutrition. | Advertisement
|
Advertisement
Latest News on IT in Healthcare
The GatorTronGPT AI tool might lead to a substantial improvement in healthcare efficiency through AI advancements.
FDA-approved two renal denervation systems mark a groundbreaking step in treating uncontrolled hypertension.
The AI system generates a report outlining the specific neural pathways impacted and their expected influence on brain functionality in individuals with autism.
Rather than being perceived as an obstacle, experts argue that the pandemic has served as a catalyst for digital transformation, especially the healthcare industry.
Novel innovation by AI helps provide a swift, yet reproducible measure of lean muscle mass in developing children.