📱Using the Internet can reduce the risk of dementia in older people

• Internet use may help reduce the risk of dementia in older adults.
• The study followed adults aged 50 to 65 for more than 17 years.
• Regular users had a 1.54% risk of developing dementia. In comparison, non-users faced a 10.45% risk.

Internet use: cognitive enhancement?

New research from the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Indicates that older adults who use the Internet may benefit cognitively from it. The research, conducted by New York University’s School of Global Public Health, examined the long-term cognitive effects of Internet use among older adults.

Using the University of Michigan’s Health and Retirement Study, researchers tracked the health outcomes of adults without dementia ages 50 to 65 for up to 17 years. The study showed that:

• 65% of participants use the Internet regularly.
• 21% changed their online habits significantly during the study.
• Regular users had a 1.54% risk of developing dementia. In comparison, non-users faced a 10.45% risk.

Interestingly, regular Internet users were only half as likely to develop dementia as non-users.

Understanding communication

The relationship between Internet use and dementia is complex. Claire Sexton of the Alzheimer’s Society suggested two explanations: either regular use of the Internet increases cognitive stimulation, which reduces the risk of dementia, or those at lower risk use the Internet to a greater extent.

More research is needed to determine cause and effect, but for now it appears that screen time may provide some cognitive protection for older adults.

Wallway
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