Searching the Web to Save Your Brain?

Learning a new skill is supposed to help us stay sharp as we age, whether it is learning to play an instrument or taking up ballroom dancing. A new study shows that learning to surf the Internet can also improve cognitive function for older people. Scientists studied 24 healthy adults 55 years old and above. A dozen already used the Internet daily, while the other half had hardly used it at all.
Functional MRI scans were made before a training session on how to search for information online. Then participants spent two weeks at home looking for the answers to various questions to practice their new skills. At the end of the trial period, a new set of functional MRIs were taken. It showed increased brain activity in parts of the brain responsible for working memory and decision making. The investigators conclude that the practice was enough to bring the Internet novices up to the same level of brain activity as Web-savvy seniors and suggest that this may be one way of preventing cognitive decline.
[Annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, IL Oct. 19, 2009]