Are you worried about losing some of your brain function as you age?
What do you do to try to keep your brain as active as possible?
How often do you use the Internet in retirement?
According to the European researchers, “retirees who spend time on the Internet have significantly better brain function than those who don’t use the Internet.”
The study, which examined the cognitive function of more than two thousand retired people from across Europe, found that post-retirement Internet usage is associated with substantially higher scores on word recall tests. Dr. Vincent O’ Sullivan from Lancaster University said, “the results demonstrated a reduction in the rate of cognitive decline for those who used the Internet post-retirement.”
People who used computers and the Internet as part of their jobs prior to retirement are more likely to use them once retired.
As we know that retirement can turn both ways, it can either slow you down or keep you going for as long as possible.
Retirement is a critical period for cognitive function, which declines with age and can lead to a range of health issues.
Computer usage and surfing the Internet is known to improve older people’s cognitive function such as — memory, attention, problem solving or spatial abilities.
Interacting with people online, finding information on a plethora of things, attending social activities, online shopping are some of the things older adults can use the Internet for. In fact one can fill an entire day with activities just through the Internet.
My personal account of how the Internet has changed my life —
I for one, really polished my online shopping skills during the lockdown, grocery shopping, fresh produce such as poultry, fruit and vegetables; the farm to home concept has worked beautifully on my budget and time. It’s now a new way of life and I love it.
Paying of monthly utility bills just got easier, no more standing in queues at MTNL, BEST, Mahanagar Gas, now you can avail of net banking, direct smart phone payments through a number of UPI’s such as Paytm, Googlepay, Amazonpay and more. Now that’s a huge saving on time and patience.
I also find that I no longer need to keep asking people to explain how a gadget works or which brand of washing machine I should buy, children have their lives and often lack the patience to answer mummy’s questions everyday (duh), it’s the cycle of life, I remember being the same with my mum. Welcome Internet, my saving grace.
Daily news can get to you, somehow the media thrives on negative news, watching the news, repetitively throughout the day can get depressing or even annoying. The Internet gives you highlights, pop-ups and that gives you the option of reading in depth topics that will be of interest to you.
There is no dearth on the vastness of information one can avail of on the internet, I could spend all of my free time reading articles, at my time and space, I could play any number of games at the drop of a hat, with the computer as my opponent and with the teacher installed, it gets you to up your game too. Now isn’t that fantastic.
Catch up on gossip and gupshup on social media, Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp communication, Twitter, etc, all in the palm of your hand, You have any number of friends and family or even strangers, sharing their lives and you know you are in the same boat, a different boat or just sailing along with your ‘LIKES’
Most importantly, more to do with your emotional well-being than brain health, if you have your children and family across the seven seas, as I do, it is the internet that got me to be part of my daughter’s graduation, a milestone moment that the pandemic caused us to miss, it is the internet that enabled my sibling to witness my mums funeral, it is the internet that has made the world a small place indeed.
A word of caution, beware of fake news, scammers and untrusted websites. Mankind is fast to get on the scam bandwagon to make a quick buck. There are always trusted sources, so do stick to those.
It’s hard to imagine the world without the internet anymore. The statistics are mind blowing. There are 4.5 billion people online, over 1.7 billion websites selling their products, 6 million new blog posts published daily and millions of Google searches happening every second. This goes to show our reliance on the Internet, how fundamental it is to our lives and it is now central, it is how we live and operate, its positive impact outweighs the negative.
So if you want to be global at local, here is your chance to get deeper into your computer
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The more you play around on it, the more you learn about it.
The more you learn, the more you keep boosting your brain health.
The more you boost your brain, the more your cognitive functions are prevented from decline.
The stability of cognitive skills transports into overall health and well-being.
It has definitely made life better, so why not use the Internet regularly.
