Study: Using the Internet for This Amount of Time Per Day May Lower Your Dementia Risk
New research finds that older adults who use the internet have a lowered risk of dementia.
The researchers found that those with the lowest risk used the internet between 0.5 and two hours a day.
Doctors say the internet can help prevent social isolation, a known risk factor for dementia.
Dementia impacts an estimated 5.8 million people in the U.S. and, unfortunately, those numbers are expected to grow. With that, it’s understandable to want to do what you can to lower your risk of developing dementia. Now, a new study has one suggestion you probably haven’t thought of: Use the internet.
The study, which was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, analyzed data from 18,154 adults aged 50 to 65 who didn’t have dementia when the study began. The participants were asked this question: “Do you regularly use the World Wide Web, or the Internet, for sending and receiving e-mail or for any other purpose, such as making purchases, searching for information, or making travel reservations?”
The researchers discovered that study participants who said they used the internet had about half the risk of dementia compared to those who didn’t go online. They then further drilled down on the data, looking at how often participants used the internet (ranging from not at all to more than eight hours a day).
People who used the internet for two hours or less a day had the lowest risk of developing dementia, while those who didn’t go online at all had a “notably higher” risk.
“Being a regular internet user for longer periods in late adulthood was associated with delayed cognitive impairment, although further evidence is needed on potential adverse effects of excessive usage,” the researchers concluded in the study.
But why might using the internet lower your risk of developing dementia, and what does it mean for your online habits going forward? Here’s what experts have to say.
Why is internet usage linked to a lower risk of dementia?
The study didn’t explore why using the internet may lower your risk of developing dementia—it simply found an association. But experts have a few theories as to why this link exists.
“Online engagement can develop and maintain cognitive reserve, and increased cognitive reserve can, in turn, compensate for brain aging and reduce the risk of dementia,” says lead study author Gawon Cho, a Ph.D. candidate at the New York University School of Global Public Health. “However, there is a lack of longitudinal studies on this topic, especially those with sufficiently long follow-up periods.”
Being online can help people socialize and feel less lonely, says Amit Sachdev, M.D., M.S., medical director in the Department of Neurology at Michigan State University. “The internet helps us stay connected,” he says. “Healthy connections very clearly help prevent dementia.”
Research has linked high levels of social interaction with a lowered risk of dementia. One six-year study of 593 people over the age of 63 found that people who had higher levels of social activities, including trying new things, socializing regularly, and being active, were less likely to develop dementia than their less social counterparts.
Social isolation has also been associated with an increased risk for dementia. A March 2023 study of 5,022 older adults conducted by Johns Hopkins researchers found that those who were socially isolated had a 27% higher risk of developing dementia than those who were more social.
“We know that cognitive engagement—learning, education, and social connection—are all things you might get through internet usage. We also know these are protective of brain health,” says Scott Kaiser, M.D., a geriatrician and director of Geriatric Cognitive Health for the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, Calif.
The internet requires constant thinking—and that can help lower the risk of dementia, Dr. Sachdev points out. “Preventing dementia is all about maintaining a healthy brain and using it,” he says. “The internet can help us use the brain in new ways each day.”
Dementia risk factors
Research into dementia is ongoing, but scientists have found some factors that can raise your risk of developing the condition. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), those can include:
Increasing age. Dementia largely impacts people aged 65 and older.
Family history. People with parents or siblings who have dementia are at a higher risk of developing it themselves.
Race/ethnicity. Older Black Americans are twice as likely to develop dementia than those who are white. People who are Hispanic are 1.5 times more likely to develop dementia than those who are white.
Poor heart health. Conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking increase the risk of dementia if they are not treated properly.
Traumatic brain injury. Head injuries, especially those that are severe or repeated, raises the risk.
How to lower your risk of dementia
There is no effective treatment that can prevent dementia, but there is a lot you can do things to reduce your risk. “I spend about 30 minutes talking with patients about this,” Dr. Kaiser says. In general, it’s important to “maintain a healthy body and exercise the brain,” Dr. Sachdev says.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) suggests doing the following:
Control your blood pressure.
Try to manage your blood sugar.
Maintain a healthy weight.
Eat a good mix of fruits and vegetables, along with whole grains, lean meats, seafood, and unsaturated fats.
Try to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week.
Keep your mind active by reading, playing board games, or learning a new skill.
Socialize with family and friends.
Treat hearing issues.
Take care of your physical and mental health.
Try to get seven to eight hours of sleep a night.
Do your best to prevent head injuries, like wearing shoes with nonskid soles and a helmet while biking.
Cut back on your alcohol consumption, making sure to have no more than a drink a day (for women) and two drinks a day (for men).
Don’t use tobacco products.
And, Dr. Sachdev says, using the internet may help as well. “Healthy socialization is good when thinking about the brain,” he says. “Virtual or in person likely matters less than just staying connected to other people.”
But Dr. Kaiser cautions about going overboard with internet usage. “What you’re doing on the internet and how much may matter,” he says. “This isn’t saying, Go spend your day on the internet. Too much can be damaging.”
Heshan J. Fernando, Ph.D., a clinical neuropsychologist for Corewell Health in Michigan, agrees. “This study does not prove internet use by older adults will lead to better cognitive health, but the findings certainly encourage further exploration of internet use as a potentially modifiable lifestyle factor to lower the risk of dementia,” he says. “Future studies are likely to explore the association between specific types of internet content and cognitive health, something that was not achieved in the current study.”
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