- Since social media became mainstream in the early 2000s, people today are using digital technology more than ever.
- Past studies have discussed the potential health hazards of using too much technology, including a potential negative impact on brain function and “digital dementia.”
- A new study has found that digital technology use may actually help protect against cognitive decline and reduce dementia risk in older adults.
Since the exploding popularity of the World Wide Web in the mid-1990s, people today are more connected than ever before. Then as social media became mainstream in the early 2000s, today people of all ages spend hours of every day — two hours and 24 minutes on average, to be exact — scrolling through Facebook and Instagram feeds, and watching TikTok videos.
“In the last three decades, it’s possible that the largest change to societies across the globe has been the digital revolution,” Michael K. Scullin, PhD, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University told Medical News Today. “The emergence of home computing, Internet, and smartphones has fundamentally changed daily human behaviors. To the scientist, this presents an interesting question: how does a fundamental change to the way humans behave everyday influence cognitive outcomes later in life?”
Past studies have discussed the potential health hazards of using too much technology, including a potential negative impact on brain function.
A German neuroscientist and psychiatrist named Dr. Manfred Spitzer coined the term “digital dementia” with his book published in 2012 regarding
Conversely, Scullin is the co-lead author of a new study recently published in the journal
For this study, researchers analyzed data from more than 136 studies with cognitive or dementia diagnosis information, for more than 400,000 older adult participants with an average age of about 69.
Upon analysis, scientists found that digital technology use was correlated with a 58% lower risk of cognitive impairment in older adults.
“It’s important to note that the data didn’t go in the opposite direction,” Scullin said. “The great fear was that using computers, the Internet, and smartphones could lead to worse rates of cognitive impairment. There wasn’t compelling evidence for that in any of the studies we meta-analyzed.”
“Instead, 90% of the studies indicated that digital technology use was linked to lower risk of cognitive impairment, even when controlling for a myriad of other factors like education, socioeconomic status, general health, lifestyle factors, or baseline cognition.”
— Michael K. Scullin, PhD
“The other 10% of studies showed ‘null’ outcomes. The collective data indicate that, amongst ‘digital pioneers’ who first adopted digital technologies in middle or older adulthood, using these devices is associated with a net positive outcome for overall cognitive health,” he said.
When asked how digital technology use might be able to help lower an older adult’s risk for cognitive impairment and dementia, Scullin said it’s because digital technologies provide opportunities for cognitive/mental stimulation.
“Learning to use a computer, navigate the Internet, and use a smartphone can all be experienced as challenging, but that’s a good sign for ‘exercising your brain’. Digital devices can also help us stay connected with friends and family members via email, texts, sharing photos, video calling, and other approaches. This is valuable because studies indicate that loneliness and social isolation lead to negative cognitive outcomes in older adults.”
— Michael K. Scullin, PhD
“We have also seen the value of digital devices in helping people to compensate for age-related cognitive decline,” Scullin continued. “For example, people who are having difficulties with prospective memory can offload their future intended tasks to a digital calendar and receive automated reminders to wish people happy birthday, remember to take their medications at the appropriate time, and attend appointments.”
Jared F. Benge, PhD, associate professor of neurology at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin and the other co-lead author of this study, added that trading an activity — like passively watching TV — with something more engaging — such as searching the web for information or learning something new — may be more stimulating than other activities.
“Dementia is an incredibly complex series of diseases, with a huge personal, societal, and economic burden,” Benge told MNT. “Given this complexity, there is no magic bullet to cure, prevent, or reverse all cases. Instead, I believe we need to understand any tools at our disposal to help. The digital environment may be a uniquely helpful tool to leverage to help prevent, manage, and address brain health.”
MNT spoke with Gary Small, MD, chair of psychiatry at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, about this study, who commented that he did not find its findings surprising.
“Although overuse of digital technology can distract people and impair memory performance, searching online, using email, video conferencing, and other digital tasks exercise our brains and boost cognitive functioning,” Small explained.
“Over a decade ago, my research team used functional MRI scanning to measure
“Moreover, we rescanned the naïve Internet users after a week of online search training and found significant increases in neural stimulation in brain regions controlling thinking and memory. These findings suggest that searching online strengthens neural circuits that control memory and thinking, which could explain some of the cognitive advantages for older adults who use digital technology.”
— Gary Small, MD
“In addition to the mental stimulation from online searching, use of these technologies keeps older adults socially connected, gives them access to important health education information, and helps them to remain independent,” Small added.
For readers who may have older family members, or readers who are older adults themselves, Small offered the following tips on how they can use digital technology to reduce their risk of cognitive decline as they age:
- Use the technology but don’t overuse it. Too much use of technology can cause mental fatigue, decrease attention span, and cause neck and back pain. Take regular breaks from your tech use in order to balance your online and offline worlds.
- Train but don’t strain your brain. To avoid “device frustration syndrome,” if you are having difficulty navigating an app or program, reach out to others who may assist you or pivot to easier platforms that are less frustrating. Even though your tech use may strengthen your brain neural circuits, stress has been shown to worsen memory and other cognitive functions.
- Stay connected. Social isolation increases risk for depression and dementia so get comfortable with email, texting, social media, and videoconferencing to stay close to friends and family members.
“Life expectancy has increased dramatically, so people are living longer than ever before in history,” Small said. “Unfortunately, age is the greatest single risk factor for developing dementia, a cognitive decline that disrupts a person’s ability to care for themselves. This age wave is leading to an epidemic of late-life dementia.”
“Although we have medicines that can temporarily delay cognitive decline, there is no cure,” he added. “The available science is compelling that lifestyle habits (e.g., physical exercise,