Web search engines like Google may be slowly changing the way brains remember information, a recent study by Columbia University psychologist Betsy Sparrow has shown.

In a research paper published July 14 in Science, Sparrow said that people's brains now tend to rely more on the Internet for memory instead of storing firsthand information.

“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. We remember less through knowing information itself than by knowing where the information can be found," she said.

According to her research, people tend to forget things that they are confident can be found on the Internet.

But people will also be more likely to remember things that they think are not available online.