Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38727074›Full record

ArticleWorld psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA)2024

From "online brains" to "online lives": understanding the individualized impacts of Internet use across psychological, cognitive and social dimensions.

Joseph Firth, John Torous, José Francisco López-Gil, Jake Linardon, Alyssa Milton, Jeffrey Lambert, Lee Smith, Ivan Jarić, Hannah Fabian, Davy Vancampfort and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
33citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

33 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Child and adolescent psychiatry: challenges, solutions, opportunities, and future directions.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2026
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Prevalence of Internet Addiction Among Thai Pharmacy Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Priorities and opportunities for lifestyle psychiatry: consensus from the LifePsych Society.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2025
    Article
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

13 authors.

Joseph FirthDivision of Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, UK.
John TorousDivision of Digital Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
José Francisco López-GilOne Health Research Group, Universidad de las Americas, Quito, Ecuador.
Jake LinardonSchool of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
Alyssa MiltonCentral Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Jeffrey LambertDepartment for Health, University of Bath, Bath, UK.
Lee SmithCentre for Health Performance and Wellbeing, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.
Ivan JarićLaboratoire Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
Hannah FabianDivision of Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, UK.
Davy VancampfortDepartment of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Henry OnyeakaDepartment of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Felipe B SchuchDepartment of Sports Methods and Techniques, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil.
Josh A FirthDepartment of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In response to the mass adoption and extensive usage of Internet-enabled devices across the world, a major review published in this journal in 2019 examined the impact of Internet on human cognition, discussing the concepts and ideas behind the "online brain". Since then, the online world has become further entwined with the fabric of society, and the extent to which we use such technologies has continued to grow. Furthermore, the research evidence on the ways in which Internet usage affects the human mind has advanced considerably. In this paper, we sought to draw upon the latest data from large-scale epidemiological studies and systematic reviews, along with randomized controlled trials and qualitative research recently emerging on this topic, in order to now provide a multi-dimensional overview of the impacts of Internet usage across psychological, cognitive and societal outcomes. Within this, we detail the empirical evidence on how effects differ according to various factors such as age, gender, and usage types. We also draw from new research examining more experiential aspects of individuals' online lives, to understand how the specifics of their interactions with the Internet, and the impact on their lifestyle, determine the benefits or drawbacks of online time. Additionally, we explore how the nascent but intriguing areas of culturomics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality are changing our understanding of how the Internet can interact with brain and behavior. Overall, the importance of taking an individualized and multi-dimensional approach to how the Internet affects mental health, cognition and social functioning is clear. Furthermore, we emphasize the need for guidelines, policies and initiatives around Internet usage to make full use of the evidence available from neuroscientific, behavioral and societal levels of research presented herein.

Indexed as

addictionartificial intelligenceattentioncognitionculturomicsInternetmemorymental well‐beingsocial functioningsocial media

Identifiers

PMID38727074
PMCPMC11083903

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.