A high dose of the net can enable those under thirty years old to learn quickly but this can lead to difficulties in concentration as we are becoming increasingly aware. However, when an older or even more senior citizen carries out internet searches, it stimulates parts of the brain that regulates decision making and complex reasoning. This is where there can actually be an improvement in intellectual capacity. In fact the lines are blurring between the generations with regard to the ways they adapt to the use of technology.

UCLA recently announced that research on the internet can stimulate the zones of the brain that enables effective decision making and complex reasoning. The process enables an improvement in the memory capacities and overall brain function in those of a more mature age. Balancing that, if our over fifty year olds don’t spend their days surfing the web, large numbers of Generation Y appear to be totally devoting their time to it by comparison; a habit that partially modifies the brain function of these ‘digital natives’.  This was underlined in a neuroscientific study by Gary Small. The conclusion: young people who spend more than nine hours per day on the web are more capable of taking rapid decisions and efficiently filtering information.

Creativity and speed, but difficulty in concentration
The under 30′s users proved that they were more creative but on the reverse poor at concentration and in assimilating large amounts of facts. According to Gary Small, the brain is in effect very sensitive to changes in its environment, thus the use of technologies can have a direct impact. “If you repeat the same task regularly, it trains certain circuits of the brain, and ignore others “  as he tells journalists.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, another effect of the information age is the tendency to withdraw into a virtual world, whether a digital native or a ‘digital immigrant’.

Consolidating technological and social aptitudes
The little genius of tomorrow may be  more capable of making a number of important choices whilst sitting at his/her laptop but when it comes to discerning the virtual world from the real world, social or technical competences “will the future stars be capable of knowing when to respond by email or phone?” as many aspects of human social interaction such as relating and empathy can become lost in this digital space.  

Ongoing brain development
Part of the study involved working with 20 or so volunteers in the 55-76 age range category who had similar neurological capabilities. Half the group were already used to using the internet, the other half had never used the net.  Comparisons were also made between reading books and reading web material whilst undergoing an MRI scan.  Although there was the same amount of brain activity in both groups, those surfing the net showed clear distinctions: the senior citizens surfing the internet will engage the cerebellum, stimulating the zones that control decision making and simple reasoning more. Surfing the net also appeared to improve the capacity to reflect and memorise. 

So the conclusion seems to be that our brains can progess regardless of age!