This section reveals some of the common and intriguing myths in the world of medicine and discusses some of the exciting recent medical discoveries and how they affect your world.


10. IS SURFING THE INTERNET A WASTE OF TIME?

Although it might seem that spending countless hours navigating the world wide web is time well wasted, recent research suggests that this isn't the case. In fact, according to scientists at the UCLA Center on Aging, using a computer is beneficial in keeping the mind fit and may even delay the onset of dementia. In their study, they measured the brain activity of elderly individuals who searched the internet while laying in an MRI machine (must have been hard to use the keyboard) and what they found was that those people who searched for information on the computer utilized the frontal lobes of their brain which is the area involved in complex reasoning and decision making. When compared to other individuals who simply read a book instead, the computer users showed much greater brain activity which is known to have a protective effect against future decline in cognitive function. So, if you want to keep your brain healthy, go ahead and Google...