The study found that when mature adults Google and otherwise search the Internet, key centers in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning are exercised, thereby stimulating and possibly improving complex decision making and cognitive reasoning abilities.

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, which can impact cognitive function.

Activities such as crossword puzzles are known to keep the mind engaged, which aids in preserving brain health and cognitive ability. Now, with the advent of technology, scientists are just starting to assess the influence of computer use, including the Internet.

Researchers studied 24 neurologically normal research volunteers between the ages of 55 and 76. Age, educational level and gender were similar between the two groups. Split into two groups, half of the participants had experience searching the Internet, while the other half had no experience.

The volunteers performed Web searches and book-reading tasks while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging ( fMRI ) scans, which recorded the subtle brain-circuitry changes experienced during these activities. This type of scan tracks the intensity of cell responses in the brain by measuring the level of cerebral blood flow during cognitive tasks.

The result? All of the study participants showed significant brain activity during the book-reading task, demonstrating use of the regions controlling language, reading, memory and visual abilities, which are located in the temporal, parietal, occipital and other areas of the brain.

However, when conducting Internet searches, there were major differences between the two groups. Although all participants demonstrated the same brain activity seen during the book-reading task, the Web-savvy group also registered activity in the frontal, temporal and cingulate areas of the brain, which control decision-making and complex reasoning.

Moreover, researchers found while Web searching, volunteers with prior experience on the Internet registered a twofold increase in brain activity compared with those who had little online experience.

The researchers reasoned that compared with simple reading, the Internet's bevy of choices requires that people make decisions about what to click on in order to acquire more information, an activity that engages important cognitive circuits in the brain.

The minimal brain activation found in the less experienced Internet group may be due to participants not quite grasping the strategies needed to successfully engage in an Internet search, which is common while learning a new activity.

But all is not lost for the Internet illiterate.

"With more time on the Internet, they may demonstrate the same brain activation patterns as the more experienced group," said principal investigator Dr. Gary Small, a professor at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA who holds UCLA's Parlow-Solomon Chair on Aging.

The study, the first of its kind to assess the impact of Internet searching on brain performance, will be featured in an upcoming in an upcoming issue of The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. Additional details and further research are featured in Small's new book, iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind.

"The study results are encouraging," said Small. "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."