Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31059635›Full record

ArticleWorld psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA)2019

The "online brain": how the Internet may be changing our cognition.

Joseph Firth, John Torous, Brendon Stubbs, Josh A Firth, Genevieve Z Steiner, Lee Smith, Mario Alvarez-Jimenez, John Gleeson, Davy Vancampfort, Christopher J Armitage and 1 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 157 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
157citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
116.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

157 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 597 citations in OpenAlex.

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97 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 10 institutions in 4 countries.

Joseph FirthNICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Westmead, Australia.
John TorousDivision of Digital Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Brendon StubbsDepartment of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Josh A FirthDepartment of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Genevieve Z SteinerNICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Westmead, Australia.
Lee SmithCambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.
Mario Alvarez-JimenezCentre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
John GleesonCentre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Davy VancampfortDepartment of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Christopher J ArmitageDivision of Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Jerome SarrisNICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Westmead, Australia.
Westmead Institute · AUAnglia Ruskin University · GBAustralian Catholic University · AUBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center · USKing's College London · GBKU Leuven · BEManchester Academic Health Science Centre · GBUniversity of Melbourne · AUUniversity of Oxford · GBWestern Sydney University · AU

Funding

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/S009752/1Department of Health ICA-CL-2017-03-001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The impact of the Internet across multiple aspects of modern society is clear. However, the influence that it may have on our brain structure and functioning remains a central topic of investigation. Here we draw on recent psychological, psychiatric and neuroimaging findings to examine several key hypotheses on how the Internet may be changing our cognition. Specifically, we explore how unique features of the online world may be influencing: a) attentional capacities, as the constantly evolving stream of online information encourages our divided attention across multiple media sources, at the expense of sustained concentration; b) memory processes, as this vast and ubiquitous source of online information begins to shift the way we retrieve, store, and even value knowledge; and c) social cognition, as the ability for online social settings to resemble and evoke real-world social processes creates a new interplay between the Internet and our social lives, including our self-concepts and self-esteem. Overall, the available evidence indicates that the Internet can produce both acute and sustained alterations in each of these areas of cognition, which may be reflected in changes in the brain. However, an emerging priority for future research is to determine the effects of extensive online media usage on cognitive development in youth, and examine how this may differ from cognitive outcomes and brain impact of uses of Internet in the elderly. We conclude by proposing how Internet research could be integrated into broader research settings to study how this unprecedented new facet of society can affect our cognition and the brain across the life course.

Indexed as

addictionattentioncognitionInternetmemorysocial mediasocial structuresvirtual reality

Identifiers

PMID31059635
PMCPMC6502424
OpenAlexW2944285188

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.