As with most things, the benefits from computers and technology is all about balance. From an article in The Independent – What the web is teaching our brains, a list of activities and the benefits each provides. Internet research: Boosts the ability to integrate and process information as well as enhancing decision-making skills. General browsing: Encourages the use of continuous partial attention and multi-tasking, which can impair cognition and cause irritability Playing computer games: May improve multi-tasking skills, memory and peripheral vision. Can lead to antisocial behaviour. Building a blog or website: Building a blog or your own website improves frontal lobe function, reasoning and memory. Sorting email: Boosts information-processing functions in the brain’s frontal lobe. Can also cause stress. Using emoticons: Exercises brain centres linked to emotion and social connection; particularly beneficial to those who use computers for long periods. Tweeting and chatrooms: Enhances peripheral attention, helps to boost self-esteem and protects the hippocampus. The article includes more information on the “why” or how it works, and of course some negative aspects of internet & technology usage too. Worth reading: Facebook and Bebo risk ‘infantilising’ the human mind In Defense of Distraction Is Google Making Us Stupid? Gin, Television,

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