Grandma may be sharper thanks to Facebook.

• Position: Cognition - Brief article

For older adults looking to sharpen their mental abilities, it might be time to log on to Facebook. Research findings from the University of Arizona, Tucson, suggest that men and women older than 65 who learn to use Facebook could see a boost in cognitive function.

Older adults--participants ranged in age from 68 to 91--after learning to use Facebook, performed about 25% better on tasks designed to measure their ability to monitor continuously and to add quickly or delete the contents of their working memory, a function known in the world of psychology as "updating."

"The idea evolved from two bodies of research," explains Janelle Wohltmann, a graduate student in the Department of Psychology. "One, there is evidence to suggest that staying more cognitively...