For middle-aged and older adults, searching the Internet could be a boost to the brain, a new study suggests.
In recent years, several studies have showed a link between pursuing activities that keep the mind engaged, such as crossword puzzles and memory games, and a lowered risk of cognitive decline later in life.

As the brain ages, a number of structural and functional changes occur, including atrophy, reductions in cell activity, and increases in deposits of amyloid plaques and tau tangles (both associated with Alzheimer's disease ), all of which can affect cognitive function.

Keeping your brain active could drive some of these brain chemistry signals in the opposite direction compared to where they go as dementia sets in, and now it looks like surfing the Web could be another way to do that. The new study, to be detailed in an upcoming issue of the journal American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, looked at the brain activity of 24 neurologically normal volunteers between the ages of 55 and 76 as they searched the Internet. Half of the participants had experience surfing the Web, while the others did not.

The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging scans to record subtle brain-circuitry changes in the patients as they performed Web searches and read book passages. fMRI scans track the intensity of cell responses in the brain by measuring the level of blood flow through the brain.

All the study participants showed significant brain activity during the book-reading task, specifically in the temporal, parietal and occipital lobes of the brain, which are involved in controlling language, reading, memory and visual abilities .

But Internet searches revealed differences between the two groups. While all the participants showed the same activity as during the book-reading, the Web-savvy group also registered activity in the frontal, temporal and cingulate areas of the brain, whereas those new to the net did not. (These areas of the brain control decision-making and complex reasoning.)

"Our most striking finding was that Internet searching appears to engage a greater extent of neural circuitry that is not activated during reading — but only in those with prior Internet experience," said study leader Gary Small of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.

Compared with reading, the wealth of choices on the Internet requires that people make decisions about what to click on, which engages important cognitive circuits in the brain.

"A simple, everyday task like searching the Web appears to enhance brain circuitry in older adults, demonstrating that our brains are sensitive and can continue to learn as we grow older," Small said. The work was funded by the Parvin Foundation.

With more time and experience, the group that was new to the Web could eventually show the same brain activation patterns as their more Internet-savvy peers.

The researchers noted that more research must be done to address both the positive and negative ways that new technologies might influence the aging brain.

一份最新的研究提出,对于中年人和老年人来说,上网浏览可以促进大脑活动.
近些年来,好几份研究都显示,如果多从事一些类似于纵横拼字游戏和记忆类游戏的活动来保持大脑活力,可以帮助老年人提高抵抗认知能力降低之类

疾病的能力。
由于大脑老化,许多的结构性和功能性的病变出现,包括细胞活力的萎缩,降低,还有类淀粉斑的沉积和tau纠结(同时也可以引起老年痴呆证)增加,所有

这些都可以影响认知功能.
大脑保持活动就可以在反方向推进出许多大脑的化学信号,做个比喻就像是痴呆病症在哪里,这些信号就去哪里,现在看来似乎上网冲浪可以以另一种

方式来实现这个目的.这份研究报告详细发表在即将发行的<<美国老年精神病杂志>>上,该研究基于从网上征集的24名年龄在55-76岁之间的精神

正常的志愿者.其中一半的志愿者有上网浏览的经历,而剩下的则没有。
研究者让志愿者上网浏览或者看书,同时使用功能磁共振成像扫描并记录他们的大脑环的细微变化.功能磁共振成像通过测量大脑中血液流动的级别

来追踪扫描大脑细胞反映的强度.
所有参与实验的志愿者在读书实验期间都显示出显著的大脑活动迹象,其中非常明确的显示在大脑的颞叶,顶叶,以及枕叶部位,这些部位都与控制语言

,读,记忆和视觉能力有关.
但是当进行网络实验的时候却在两组之间显示出不同.所有的参与者除了显示出与读书调查期间相同的大脑活动迹象外,有网络使用历史的一组还在

大脑的额,颞,扣带回等部也展现出活动迹象,反之,第一次接触网络的人却没有这些迹象.(大脑的这些地区是来控制决定和复杂原因的.)
"我们最惊人的发现是网络实验显示上网能使神经网络环更宽广,而这些活动在阅读实验中是没有的----但也是仅仅针对那些先前有过上网经历的人来

说,"来自UCLA塞默勒神经系统与人类行为科学学院,同时也是这次研究负责人的Gary Small如是说.
"举个简单的例子,在年长些的人中,每天进行上网之类的活动能够增强大脑环,这说明我们的大脑是敏感的并且即使我们慢慢变老也能持续学

习,"Small说.这项工作的资助来自与Parvin基金会.
只要有更多的时间和经验,这些第一次接触网络的人们最终也能够像那些有较长上网经验的人一样展现出相同的大脑活动模式.
研究者提醒人们,应该做更多的研究来揭示那些可能会影响老化大脑的新技术的积极和消极的一面.