Senior citizens can stave off age related psychological disorders like dementia by surfing the internet for as little as one hour a day, research has shown. The research was carried out by Gary Small, Professor of human behavior and neuroscience at University of California, Los Angeles, over 24 people aged between 55 and 78. 12 people among them were regular users of the internet, while the others spent most of the leisure time reading books.

The research, carried out with the help of functional magnetic resonance imaging, revealed that the brain worked harder while surfing the internet instead of reading. The flow of blood, as revealed by the FMRI tests, is also increased when Googling for some topic.

Half of the participants, who surfed internet, were told to do so for an hour every day, while the other half were given books to read as per their preferences. Small commented that the improvements were seen almost immediately, just after a few days of work. Teena Moody, who was Small’s partner for the research, commented, “Searching online may be a simple form of brain exercise that might be employed to enhance cognition in older adults.”