Dr Gary Smith

Dr Gary SmithYou’re probably not surprised to hear that regularly using this mysterious network of false information, pornography, arbitrary anger and inexplicable in-jokes that we call the internet has an effect on the old noodle, but a scientist has proved that it actually makes you smarter.  No, really. 


Dr Gary Small, a neuroscientist over at the University of California, Los Angeles, has found that surfing the web makes the brain more adept at filtering out needless information. Pop-ups benefit the human race!

Small has written a tome titled iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind, in which he claims that tech-heads are likely to reach “the top of the new social order”. 

As part of his research, he carried out brain-mapping tests on 24 adults and found that, to quote the book, “experienced internet users showed double the activity in areas of the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning as internet beginners”.

It’s not all good news, mind – Small also mentioned that people who are addicted to web-surfing have a higher change of suffering from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Sorry, what were we saying before we started pogoing?