Surfing and the Brain

Pretect Your Grey Matter

A growing number of people are surfing the web for answers to questions that cop up on a daily basis and to do research on subjects that interest them. If you spend time regularly searching the web and using it as a knowledge base, here's some good news.

You're probably ensuring that your brain stays healthy and active well into old age. Research indicates that reasoning and decision-making centers within the brain are activated when computer-savvy people do Web searches.

Not a Mere Pastime

Searching the web may seem like just a pleasant way to kill time, but research proves that it is more than that. Within a small group who took part in a recent scientific study, the brain scans of the computer-adept members of the group showed more activity during Internet searches, than those in the study who weren't so handy with a browser.

Information Is Brainpower

Researchers say that searching the Web stimulates the brain by forcing you to evaluate search results and make decisions about what links to click. Those less familiar with the Web may not show the same type of brain activity, simply because they are less sure of what to do. So it pays to experiment online -- at least enough to know a search engine from a message board and which links are more likely to provide you with the information you seek.

While it may not be the only way to stimulate your brain, it certainly gives you access to the most enormous database of information that has ever been available in the history of mankind. And it will give your brain a workout just separating the valid information from the overkill of worthless information that certainly pollutes the experience for less on-line savvy surfers.

Top of Surfing the Web

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