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You might think spending time on your smartphone or computer is bad for your brain. Indeed, "brain rot" - the slang term for a mental decline caused by mindlessly consuming social media or digital dreck - was Oxford Dictionary's 2024 Word of the Year.
But new research suggests that older adults who spend time engaging with technology may get a cognitive benefit.
"We saw that older adults who are engaging with technologies overall seem to be having less diagnoses of dementia, mild cognitive impairment, better scores on cognitive measures," said Jared Benge, an associate professor at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin and an author of the paper, a meta-analysis of 57 studies, which was published in Nature Human Behaviour.
Across the studies, more use of everyday digital technologies such as computers, smartphones and the internet was associated with a 58 percent lower risk of cognitive impairment in people older than 50.
• Digital tech on the brain
The relationship between cognition and technology use is probably bidirectional, researchers said: People who have healthy cognition may use technology more, and people who use technology more may have better cognition in the future.
Technology is expensive, and its use may be a marker of socioeconomic status, education or wealth, which are themselves associated with reduced dementia risk.
But even when the researchers looked at studies that accounted for these factors, including health issues, the positive association between technology use and cognition remained.
"What's surprising about it is how consistent our findings were," with no studies finding technology use being harmful to cognition, said Michael Scullin, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University and an author of the analysis.
Because the studies were observational, they cannot show causality. But longitudinal studies that tracked participants for an average of six years found that more technology use is associated with better cognitive health in the future.
While these studies show that technology use has a consistent positive link with cognitive health in older adults, it also carries certain risks, including exposure to financial scams and misinformation, as well as the temptation to fiddle on screens while driving, researchers said.
"There's really not a simple answer to whether these devices are always good or always bad," Scullin said.
Excessive use of technology can have other costs. That time could have been used for other activities, such as exercise or real-life social interactions.
A 2023 study of more than 18,000 older adults found that while regular internet users had approximately half the risk of dementia as nonusers, those who used the internet the most may have had higher dementia risk.
"Too much of anything is not a good thing," said Virginia Chang, an associate professor in New York University's School of Global Public Health and an author of the 2023 study.
• The three C's of technology use
There are three ways that technology can potentially boost cognitive health. Benge thinks of them as the 3 C's: complexity, connection and compensatory behaviors.
• Complexity: Research has consistently shown that challenging our brains with mentally complex tasks is good for it - crosswords, hobbies, music, reading and more years of formal education.
Today, we have the breadth and depth of human knowledge and culture at our fingertips.
"If you're interested in learning anything new, whether that's a new woodworking skill or engaging in an academic idea, you can find almost anything you want," Benge said.
How we engage with technology seems to matter, according to a 2022 study of more than 145,000 people older than 60. People who spent more time using the computer had a 15 percent decreased risk of dementia. But those who spent more time watching TV - a generally more passive screen activity - had a 24 percent increased risk of dementia. These patterns held regardless of the participants' physical activity levels.
Ironically, navigating the frustrations that often accompany these digital technologies - troubleshooting software changes, diagnosing hardware issues, internet instability - are themselves sources of cognitive complexity and challenge.
While they are not "fun, they are basically stimulating activities for the brain," Scullin said.
• Connection: Digital technologies can also help connect us with one another. Social connection is protective against dementia, while isolation and loneliness increase dementia risk.
Long-distance phone calls are no longer an exorbitant luxury, and people can connect immediately with friends and family members who are not physically nearby via text, email or video call - a welcome lifeline for older adults. One 2022 study found that internet use had even higher cognitive benefits for older adults living alone.
Interestingly, the studies on social media and cognition were more mixed, in part because there were fewer studies in that area, researchers said.
Using computers, smartphones and the internet had a much more consistent positive association, so this mixed result with social media raises the question of whether how we use social media is actually mentally stimulating or socially connecting, though a lot more long-term data is needed, Scullin said.
• Compensatory behaviors: As we age, we may encounter difficulties with cognitive abilities such as memory, decision-making and navigation.
Digital technologies can help cognition by compensating for this diminished capacity by providing a "scaffold" to support everyday function.
For example, we can use our digital technologies to help set reminders to remember doctors' appointments. For navigation, "GPS is really a game changer," Scullin said.
Having technological assistance can prolong independent living even if the intrinsic cognitive ability is impaired, Scullin said.
• Digital unknowns
While there is consistent evidence that using digital technology is associated with cognitive benefits for digital pioneers - the first generation to be exposed to computers, smartphones and the internet in adulthood - it's too early to know how growing up or being born into a world of screens shapes brain development and later cognitive health for younger generations, researchers said.
"The amount of exposure, the type of exposure, the timing of your exposure" is probably going to make a difference, Chang said.
But "if there's one thing that brains are good at, it is adapting to the environment we're in," Benge said. "I have very little doubt that we're going to see changes in how the brain operates, but that's being human."
• Best practices for using digital technologies
Learn to use tech the right way.
For older adults who have been avoiding digital technologies because they may find them intimidating, there are easier ways to ease into that world.
Even people with mild cognitive impairment can learn to use these devices with patient trainers, improving the lives of older adults and their caregivers, Scullin and Benge found in their research.
Often, well-meaning relatives might not be the best teachers because they could have built-in history, relationship dynamics and frustrations, Scullin said. Instead, "it's just a lot better if you have a neutral party that is trained in being really patient with individuals at that life stage, that doesn't assume any knowledge and that, you know, doesn't have any prehistory with this person," he said.
In large cities, there are often organizations that have trained professionals who can teach how to use these technologies, starting from the very basics, he said.
Monitor your own usage.
Take stock of your screen time every few months, Scullin advised. Many phones allow you to see these metrics, and there are apps that track usage on the computer.
The data will let you know whether you are spending your time the way you want to and could be a cue to use those extra minutes for something else, such as hitting the gym earlier or going outside, Scullin said.
With our screens, "there's probably a little bit more garbage time than we're comfortable with," he said.
Reflect on what you are getting out of it.
"These are tools. They're not some sort of predefined reality," Benge said. "So use the tools that are good for you and avoid the tools that you aren't getting a benefit from."
You can try a one-person experiment akin to testing food allergies. Get rid of one thing for a week or two and see how you feel, Benge said. "If you systematically self-audit with this, you might see some interesting patterns, both in your use, as well as things that are working well for you," he said.
"If it's helping you get things done, if it's helping you navigate life, if it is providing sociality for you, if it contributes to cognitive stimulation, if you enjoy reading the newspaper online or playing games online, I think that's all good," Chang said. "And then I would just say: Everything in moderation."
Richard Sima is a neuroscientist turned science journalist.
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