Oh yeah, the Internet is changing our brains!
Written on 27th October 2008
7 COMMENTS 
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, Serial Internet Entrepreneur
Just in from Reuters! “The Internet is not just changing the way people live but altering the way our brains work”!
Apparently this is an evolutionary change which will put the tech-savvy (That is you and me!) at the top of the new social order. Revenge of the nerds, yeah!
No need to use mind altering drugs anymore. Just surf the web. According to Gary Small, a neuroscientist at UCLA in California who specializes in brain function, Internet searching and text messaging has made brains more adept at filtering information and making snap decisions.
As Gary explains: “We’re seeing an evolutionary change. The people in the next generation who are really going to have the edge are the ones who master the technological skills and also face-to-face skills, they will know when the best response to an email or Instant Message is to talk rather than sit and continue to email.”
A study of 24 adults as they used the Web found that experienced Internet users showed double the activity in areas of the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning as Internet beginners. The researcher said the tech-savvy generation, whom he calls “digital natives,” are always scanning for the next bit of new information which can create stress and even damage neural networks.
I would like to write more about this story but my RSS feed and Mail inbox are attracting my attention now. Read the rest of the article yourself, in between Twittering and chatting, at Reuters.
The Next Web Blog is closely associated with The Next Web Conference which is held annually in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. At this event speakers from all over the world come together to talk about, and show off, the future of the Web. (More info 
[...] De enorme informatie overload die het internet ons biedt is daar uiteraard debet aan. De mensen binnen onze generatie die deze technische skills goed kunnen combineren met sociale skills zullen bovenaan de sociale ladder eindigen volgens onderzoeker Garry Small. [...]