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Does the brain get rewired by surfing the net?
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There is a fascinating article on Wired.com (http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/techbiz/~3/l5_LN8_yizo/) that describes some research studies done in 2007 on brain activity by Dr Gary Small, a UCLA professor of psychiatry and author (http://www.drgarysmall.com/).
MRI scans of brain activity were done while subjects wore goggles that displayed web pages and used a handheld keypad to search the Internet.
The MRI scanned their brains for areas of high activation indicated by increases in blood flow.
Brain activity of experienced Internet surfers was far more extensive than that of novice surfers particularly in areas of the prefrontal cortex associated with problem-solving and decision-making.
Retesting six days later with novice surfers doing an agreed one hour daily of Internet searching revealed their brain activity had changed dramatically and resembled that of the veteran surfers.
But is this brain activity necessarily better or making people smarter?
The author of the Wired article, Nicholas Carr, provides more details.
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