Facebook 'is changing people's brains'?

A new study has suggested that using social networking sites on the internet may be changing the structure of people's brains.

Researchers claim to have found a direct link between the number of Facebook friends a person has, and the size of certain areas of the brain linked to social interaction and memory.

The findings were published in a medical journal called the Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences and was based on a study of 125 London students.

"We cannot escape the ubiquity of the internet and its impact on our lives, yet we understand little of its impact on the brain, which we know is plastic and can change over time," Dr John Williams from the Wellcome Trust told BBC News.

"We have found some interesting brain regions that seem to link to the number of friends we have - both 'real' and 'virtual'," Dr Ryota Kanai from University College London added. "This will help us answer the question of whether the internet is changing our brains."

The study involved mapping 3D brain scans of the participants, and counted both the amount of social network friends as well as real-life friends.


/Digital Spy/