United Kingdom, April 6 -- Switching off the internet on your phone can reverse the brain's age by 10 years.

A study in Canada saw 400 students and working-age adults download an app that blocked their smartphones' access to the internet for two weeks, although they were still able to make calls and send texts.

The participants completed surveys before and after the study to measure their brain function and mental wellbeing and the findings showed that their sustained attention - the ability to focus on a single subject - was boosted so much that it became equivalent to the attention span of someone a decade younger.

Experts believe that the changes to the brain were a result of individuals spending less time on the internet and more t...