{"id":10797,"date":"2011-10-19T03:10:26","date_gmt":"2011-10-19T03:10:26","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-10-19T03:10:26","modified_gmt":"2011-10-19T03:10:26","slug":"Facebook-network-shows-in-brain-structure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=10797","title":{"rendered":"Facebook network shows in brain structure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Does Facebook alter the brain?  That&#8217;s the question which flows from an unusual investigation into the online social network used by 800 million people.  Volunteers placed in a 3-D scanner had bigger, denser structures in three areas of the brain if they had a big list of Facebook friends compared to counterparts who had few online friends, scientists found.  The three locations are all linked with the power to socialise.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The superior temporal sulcus and middle temporal gyrus, &#8220;are associated with social perception such as perceiving other people&#8217;s gaze or social cues from facial expressions&#8221;, said University College London researcher Ryota Kanai.  The third area, the entorhinal complex, &#8220;might be associated with memory for faces and names&#8221;, he said.  Two years ago, Oxford University neuroscientist Susan Greenfield unleashed a storm about online networking and its impact on the young.  &#8220;The mid-21st century mind might almost be infantilised, characterised by short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to empathise and a shaky sense of identity,&#8221; Greenfield warned in a speech to Britain&#8217;s House of Lords.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lead investigator Geraint Rees, a UCL professor of neuroscience, said the new study opened up key questions touching on this controversy.  Among them: whether the size of the socialising area of the brain leads one to create more friends &#8212; and whether this area is changed by online social networks&#8230; or not at all. Only further work would resolve this cause-or-effect riddle, he said.  The study appears on Wednesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, published by Britain&#8217;s de-facto academy of sciences.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.channelnewsasia.com\/stories\/technologyfeatures\/view\/1160318\/1\/.html\">SOURCE<\/a><br \/>\n<!--break--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Does Facebook alter the brain? 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