LOS ANGELES (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Scientists can now see signs of aging in the brain before we even begin to feel the effects. The latest research shows we may be able to slow down the process. It may be possible to Google your way to mental fitness.
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Tina Oakland is a fit 59-year-old. With a family history of Alzheimer's, she’s determined to also keep her mind sharp. She’s been exercising her brain every day, and didn’t even know it.
“It’s amazing to find something as mundane as working on a computer or even shopping online can actually be something that’s exercising your brain and helping to shape the way it’s formed," Oakland told Ivanhoe.
That’s a hunch neuroscientist and author of iBrain Gary Small, M.D., put to the test. His UCLA research team used MRI to measure brain activity in adults ages 55 to 76. Half were internet-savvy. The others -- Net rookies.
Using special goggles, they read articles and searched online. While reading, both groups showed similar brain activity in areas that control language and memory. But when surfing the Web, the Net savvy group showed twice as much activity, much of it in the “thinking” part of the brain that makes decisions.
“What happens in our brain is similar to what happens when we go to the gym and we work out our bodies," Dr. Small, a neuroscientist and director of the Memory & Aging Center at the University of California in Los Angeles, Calif., told Ivanhoe. "You can, with training, lift more weight and exert less energy.”
The Internet’s countless choices force us to make decisions and engage brain circuits that aren’t activated during reading. Dr. Small says with practice, even computer rookies can rewire their brains.
“In a very brief period of time, their brains look identical to those of people who’ve been searching online for years," Dr. Small said.
If it’s possible to slow the brain’s aging process, it’ll take a tough workout like learning to use a computer or tackling a new language, like your physical workout -- unless it’s challenging you won’t see results.
Dr. Small says searching the Web is like a built-in brain-training course, but those who need it most aren’t signing on. Only about one-third of people 65 and older use the Internet frequently, compared to 90 percent of young adults.
