A team of researchers conducted a series of experiments and found that online search engines affect human memory. Internet search engines are affecting what information a user’s brain can remember, according to the study.

Columbia University psychologist Betsy Sparrow and her team carried out researchers and found that people are more likely to remember things they d not believe they can find on the internet and have difficulty in remembering things that are easily available online. The researchers also found that people are more likely to remember where to find certain information online rather than remembering the actual information itself.

“Since the advent of search engines, we are reorganizing the way we remember things. Our brains rely on the Internet for memory in much the same way they rely on the memory of a friend, family member or co-worker,” Sparrow said in a news release issued with the research.

The researchers carried out four experiments that are described in the paper, “Google Effects on Memory: Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips”. In the first experiment, the team asked 46 Harvard University undergraduates a series of true-false questions and showed then words in different colors. When the questions were related to Internet, such as Google they responded more slowly.

The researchers gave 60 students 40 statements and asked them to type the information on a computer. Students who were told that the information will be saved had much harder time remembering it compared to those who were told that it will be released. In the third experiment, 28 Columbia students were asked trivial questions and were allowed to take notes, with similar results.

In the final addition, 34 Columbia undergrads were told the same information would be saved in files with names such as “facts,” “data” and “names.” They were able to remember files names better than the information itself.

The study was published in Friday's issue of the journal Science.