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Older adults who are digitally savvy may be less likely to face cognitive impairment as they age, a new study suggests. The average 80-year-old has witnessed an extraordinary boom in personal technology throughout their lifetime: born years before colour television, they’re growing old in the TikTok era. For years, scientists have fretted over whether the ubiquity of tech in daily life harms or helps our minds as we age.
The research, published in the journal , is the latest to tip the scales toward the “help” category. It pooled data from 57 studies spanning more than 411,000 adults aged 50 and older from around the world, all of whom had either a cognitive diagnosis or testing. The researchers called these older adults, aged 68 on average, “digital pioneers” because they didn’t have access to the Internet during childhood.
Older people who used smartphones, computers, or the Internet had a lower risk of cognitive impairment than those who stayed away from devices, the analysis shows. Over several years of follow-up, tech-savvy seniors were also less likely to experience cognitive decline. The link between tech use and brain health was as strong – or stronger – than other factors that seem to protect against dementia, including , exercise, being more highly educated, and having mentally stimulating hobbies.
The findings are “completely timely” given countries around the world are ageing, Maximilian Haas, who leads a research group on technology and cognitive function at the University of Geneva, told Euronews Health. And “it’s understandable that technology use could evoke and provoke comparable effects compared to these other factors,” added Haas, who was not involved with the new study. Notably, the new study’s results held up even when the researchers accounted for issues like socioeconomic status, overall health, and , which could also boost brain health.
The findings are in line with a study Haas published , which found that older adults in Switzerland who had stronger memories were more likely to be regular Internet users. Meanwhile of about 463,000 people in the United Kingdom concluded that there is no “obvious association” between computer use and dementia, though more research is needed to disentangle the potential impact of too much screen time on brain health. These studies favour the idea that our digital lives could promote more complex thinking, skills, and social connections, net positives for brain health.
The benefits, referred to as “technological reserve”, are often contrasted with the “digital dementia” theory, which argues that an over-reliance on technology decimates memory, attention, and problem-solving abilities, particularly among younger people. But in reality, “there’s both positive and negative sides to screen exposure,” Haas said, adding that moderation is key. When it comes to cognitive function, “it’s too little or too much that makes the difference here”.
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