SynthesisNature human behaviour2025
A meta-analysis of technology use and cognitive aging.
Synthesis in Nature human behaviour, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Comparative Effects of Various Delivery Methods of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia Among Patients With Cancers: Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.Psycho-oncology · 2026Pooled it
- Exposome-wide association study and predictive risk score for incident Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Factors associated with digital health literacy among community-dwelling older adults in Japan: An in-person cross-sectional study.Global health & medicine · 2026Article
- Age and Proactive Interference in Visual Working Memory: Reassessing the Recent-Probes Task.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Bidirectionality and the application of the integrated neurocognitive model of technological cognition to late life cognitive health.Cognitive neuroscience · 2026Article
- How health literacy and eHealth literacy influence quality of life in older adults with chronic diseases: a network and path analysis.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2026Article
- Virtual Dementia in the Digital Age: Neurocognitive Mechanisms, Behavioural Impact and Public Health Implications of Technology Overuse.Annals of neurosciences · 2026Review
- The Lawton and Brody a half century later: A case for contemporary revision.The Clinical neuropsychologist · 2026Article
- Social connection and cognitive health: A review of concepts, measures, and research priorities.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Review
- Digital Phenotyping via Passive Network Traffic Monitoring: Prospective Observational Study in University Students.JMIR formative research · 2026Observational
- Smartphone use and cognitive performance in middle-aged and older adults: a cross-sectional study in China.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Get the unbalance right: asymmetric transfer effects in cognitive offloading.Cognitive research: principles and implications · 2026Article
- Broadband Access, Internet Use, and General Cognition in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Longitudinal Study.JMIR aging · 2026Article
- Twenty-year trends in cognitive performance and modifiable dementia risk factors: a Swiss population-based study.European journal of public health · 2026Article
- Television and computer use and dementia risk in older adults with limited leisure or social activities: A prospective cohort study.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Article
- Digital Engagement and Cognitive Function Among Older Adults in China: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study and Moderated Mediation Model Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Broadband Availability and Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias Prevalence in Central Appalachia.Journal of social service research · 2026Article
- The "ELDERDES" model: how older adults' adoption of digital environment solutions improves residential experiences, health outcomes, and enables independent living.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Beyond access: how heterogeneity of internet use differentially shapes cognitive function among Chinese older adults.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The first generation who engaged with digital technologies has reached the age where risks of dementia emerge. Has technological exposure helped or harmed cognition in digital pioneers? The digital dementia hypothesis predicts that a lifetime of technology exposure worsens cognitive abilities. An alternative hypothesis is that such exposures lead to technological reserve, wherein digital technologies promote behaviours that preserve cognition. We tested these hypotheses in a meta-analysis and systematic review of studies published in Medline, PsycInfo, CINAHL, Science Direct, Scopus, Cochrane Library, ProQuest and Web of Science. Studies were included if they were observational or cohort studies focused on general digital technology use in older adults (over age 50) and included either a cognitive or dementia diagnosis outcome. We identified 136 papers that met inclusion criteria, of which 57 were compatible with odds ratio or hazard ratio meta-analysis. These studies included 411,430 adults (baseline age M = 68.7 years; 53.5% female) from cross-sectional and longitudinal observational studies (range: 1-18 years, M = 6.2 years). Use of digital technologies was associated with reduced risk of cognitive impairment (OR = 0.42, 95% CI 0.35-0.52) and reduced time-dependent rates of cognitive decline (HR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.66-0.84). Effects remained significant when accounting for demographic, socioeconomic, health and cognitive reserve proxies. All studies were evaluated for quality on the basis of a standardized checklist; the primary outcomes replicated when limiting analyses to the highest-quality studies. Additional work is needed to test bidirectional causal interpretations, understand mechanisms that underpin technological reserve, and identify how types and timings of technology exposures influence cognitive health.
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Registered trials
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.