Scientist Says Using the Internet Makes You Smarter

Gary Small, M.D., Director of the UCLA Memory & Aging Research Center at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior says "If you think our incessant use of the Internet, Blackberrys, iPods, text-messaging and video games has changed our lives and our children's lives, here's some breaking news: Technology has not only altered our lives, it's altered our brains." The video here is an interview with him on CBS News. He says using the internet makes us smarter.

Quoted in a Popular Science article he says "The simple headline here is that Google is making us smarter." He demonstrated this with MRI scans which reveal real-time brain activity. He concludes you could build up your "brain muscles" by logging more time on the internet.

While I believe it is true that the internet has opened up access to information and learning activities, I am not sure if taken to the extreme the more you surf the internet the smarter you will get. There should be a balance in life with learning from real-life experiences.