Does the Internet rot your brain? It’s possible, according to researchers in the United States and China. In a new, albeit small study, scientists examined a handful of college students who were addicted to the Internet (as defined by the study’s parameters) to see if Internet use might change the structure of the brain itself. Lo and behold, researchers found these students showed some evidence of brain deterioration, sometimes missing as much as 20 percent of the brain’s normal white matter and gray matter. Scientists say that judging where subjects’ brains were missing matter, these students—all of whom spent significant time playing online games such as “World of Warcraft”—might struggle with short-term memory lapses and decision-making skills. Some experts believe that may be simply because online gamers don’t need those skills very much. “The effect is quite extreme, but it’s not surprising when you think of the brain as a muscle,” scientist Karl Friston told Scientific American. If you’re not losing a particular muscle, it’ll shrink, with perhaps some of that energy being transferred to areas of the brain that are being more used. (Time)