They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but scientific findings seem to indicate otherwise. Research shows that our brains literally rewire in response to new stimulation. And when it comes to computer use, Internet activity may stimulate and possibly improve brain function, according to scientists at UCLA.

“Technology may be changing our minds and changing the way we think,” said Dr. Gary Small, a neuroscientist speaking last month at the UCLA Technology & Aging Conference at the Skirball Cultural Center.

Small, director of the UCLA Center on Aging, described results of research he and colleagues performed with volunteers between the ages of 55 and 76. Half of the participants were familiar with how to search the Internet, and the other half were new to it. The participants engaged in Internet searching while simultaneously undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

The MRI images clearly showed activity in the areas of the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning — but only in the Web-savvy group. The inexperienced group showed no such activity.

However, after just five one-hour sessions of practice, the Web newbies showed activation in the same areas of the brain as the savvy group.

“Five hours on the Internet and the naive subjects had already rewired their brains,” said Small, writing about the findings in “iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind” (HarperCollins). “Recent studies demonstrate that older brains do remain malleable and plastic throughout life. Even areas of the brain that were reserved for specialized tasks can be recruited and retrained.”

In other words, “use it or lose it” applies to the brain. Indeed, Small notes, “Several studies have shown that exercising the brain with mental aerobics not only can improve cognitive performance scores but also may delay brain degeneration.”

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Do your mental aerobics and brain games at Myfitbrain.

Video games have been blamed for everything from causing aggression to giving you square eyes and a soft brain.

But what if video games are good for you?

Physio and occupational therapists started using simple video games in the late 1980s to treat people with a whole range of conditions from physical, learning or emotional disorders to cognitive problems following stroke and brain injury.

Today, a growing area of brain research suggests modern fast-paced action video games — in particular first-person shooter games — may sharpen your vision, improve your attention and working memory, and develop your fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

What’s more, these skills aren’t just virtual: they can help you do better in real-life situations, like driving your car or juggling more than one task at a time.

So what is it about blasting away your virtual enemies that’s so good for your head?

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DECATUR, Ga. (MarketWatch) — Consumers and retirement homes have made brain-fitness games and exercises a commercial hit, but now some insurers and employers are incorporating them into wellness programs that promote health not just for the body but also for the mind.

When OptumHealth, Inc., a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group Inc., which develops wellness programs for 2,500 U.S. employers, launched an in-house pilot study of a Web-based cognitive function test in January, Danna Lipton, a care advocate, was quick to sign up. Lipton’s father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at age 62, and while she is just 31 she was looking for ways to start early to maintain her brain health.

If you’re interested in learning more about Lipton’s experience and the importance of brain games, continue reading this article at: Open Mind

People can obtain their mental stimulation in many ways, but it takes work.  Properly constructed brain games offer people an alternative way to get their brain exercise.  Just as some people only get exercise by going to a gym, the only way some people will push their brain in novel ways is by using a structured brain game software program such as Myfitbrain.

Brain games alone will not keep your brain sharp though.  It is important to also get physical exercise, eat a proper diet, and get sufficient sleep.  The brain is a very sensitive and complex organ.  In order to maximize its capabilities, a person needs to take care of its environment by treating it well.  Treating it well also includes minimizing stress.

Stress management is important to enable our brains to build and utilize new neurons.  Our bodies are only meant to deal with stress in short sporadic situations – like running away from lions and tigers and bears – on my!  When we put our bodies and brain under stress for extended periods of time, our brain is not operating at its peak efficiency for the long term.  If we do not replace the neurons that die as a natural part of aging or die due to injury or too much alcohol, our brains will begin to shrink.  As our brains shrink, they become more susceptible to showing the effects of diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

Many of things we should do for our brain are similar to what we should do for our hearts.  An exception is the mental exercises which push the brain in novel ways and require the brain to make use of the neurons it creates when we are eating right, sleeping well, getting aerobic exercise, and minimizing stress.