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New Study Finds Google Makes You Smarter, Not Stupider

by Terrence O'Brien on October 15, 2008 at 07:31 PM

Google Makes You Smarter, Not StupiderOh, how quickly minds change. Just a couple of months ago, Google was making us stupid. And it made sense. It was shortening our attention spans and allowing us to become lazy about remembering facts and information. Now, a new study shows that searching Google might actually make you smarter (will they ever make up their minds?).

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) gave basic tasks to two groups of people. Tasks included things such as searching for the health benefits of eating chocolate or drinking coffee, and the test subject's brain activity was measured with an MRI. The folks in the group with little technological know-how used the same parts of their brains as they did when reading (the visual cortex) and the areas associated with language. The researchers saw more activity in these areas with the Web-savvy group, plus a flurry of activity in the frontal lobe, which controls decision-making and complex reasoning.

Evidence does suggest that the less-experienced group was forming new connections and developing techniques and areas of their brain that they didn't normally use. These new challenges could help strengthen mental health in older people who are unfamiliar with computers.

The Internet not only serves as a bottomless source for information, but actually acts as a form of mental exercise. Who needs to drop $30 on 'Brain Age' when Google is free? [From: CNN]

Tags: brain, brain age, brain training, BrainAge, BrainTraining, health, Internet, studies

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