Can Using the Internet Reduce Your Risk of Dementia?

The inter­net is a resource for all kinds of infor­ma­tion and activ­i­ties. It can help you keep in touch with friends, explore new recipes, and find that per­fect gift for some­one you love — all with a few clicks, key­strokes, or swipes. 

But the inter­net might be more than just con­ve­nient — it may also be good for your brain health. This is wel­come news to many, as cas­es of demen­tia (a reduced abil­i­ty to think, remem­ber, and make deci­sions that inter­feres with your dai­ly activ­i­ties) are on the rise. 

While demen­tia may be more of a con­cern as you age, pre­vent­ing demen­tia begins when you’re young. One of the ways you can keep your brain sharp is by doing what many are already doing — brows­ing the internet. 

Here’s how healthy inter­net usage may reduce your risk of demen­tia and what oth­er tac­tics you can take to keep your brain healthy. 

Inter­net Usage and Demen­tia: What’s the Connection? 

When you use the inter­net, you’re using your brain, too. Whether you’re mes­sag­ing a friend on social media or search­ing for a new restau­rant to try, you’re acti­vat­ing parts of your brain that you need to keep it work­ing as it should. 

A 2023 study revealed that reg­u­lar inter­net usage in adults between the ages of 50 and 65 can cut the risk of devel­op­ing demen­tia in half, com­pared to the risk of those who don’t use it regularly. 

In the study, about 18,000 par­tic­i­pants were asked if they reg­u­lar­ly used the inter­net for activ­i­ties like email­ing, shop­ping online, search­ing for infor­ma­tion, or mak­ing reser­va­tions for trav­el. They were also asked how much time they spent online, with options rang­ing from nev­er to over eight hours a day. 

Com­pared to those who didn’t reg­u­lar­ly use the inter­net, those who did (but spent less than two hours online each day) had the low­est risk of devel­op­ing dementia. 

This is like­ly because engag­ing online can help strength­en cog­ni­tive reserve, or your brain’s abil­i­ty to prob­lem solve and nav­i­gate chal­lenges. After all, keep­ing your brain active — whether through online use or oth­er means, like cross­word puz­zles — is a key pil­lar of long-term brain health. 

Do you have con­cerns about your brain health as you age? Make an appoint­ment with a Duly Neu­rol­o­gist to learn about reduc­ing your risk of dementia. 

This doesn’t mean you should start spend­ing your entire day online. To start, the study doesn’t estab­lish cause and effect. What’s more, there is such a thing as unhealthy inter­net usage, which might have an oppo­site, unhealthy effect on your brain. 

Healthy vs. Unhealthy Inter­net Usage 

Not all of the inter­net is cre­at­ed equal. Watch­ing end­less hours of fun­ny videos may have a dif­fer­ent impact than research­ing a DIY project or cor­re­spond­ing with loved ones. 

There are poten­tial neg­a­tive impacts of the inter­net, espe­cial­ly if not used thoughtfully. 

These include trou­ble sleep­ing, men­tal health con­cerns, and eye strain. 

To main­tain a healthy approach to inter­net usage: 

• Lim­it how much time you spend on social media 
• Spend at least a few hours each day with­out any screens, includ­ing TVs, com­put­ers, and phones 
• Avoid screens an hour before sleep 
• Give your eyes a break every twen­ty minutes

Rather than mind­less­ly scrolling through the inter­net, use it pur­pose­ful­ly. Good exam­ples of this would be iden­ti­fy­ing top­ics you want to research or new hob­bies you want to learn and using the resources on the inter­net to help you access that infor­ma­tion from the com­fort of your home. Con­sid­er how much you’re using the inter­net and for what pur­pos­es. If you feel like your screen time is impact­ing your sleep, keep­ing you from being social or pre­vent­ing you from get­ting exer­cise, it might be time to recon­sid­er your approach. 

Alter­na­tives to the Inter­net

Some peo­ple may not have devel­oped a habit of using the inter­net or may pre­fer to learn new infor­ma­tion in per­son or through touch, such as books or news­pa­pers. For those who are look­ing for the types of com­mu­ni­ty engage­ment or learn­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties that the inter­net has to offer but do not pre­fer to use it, local libraries are a great resource. Pro­gram­ming will vary by branch, and to under­stand all your library has to offer, vis­it your library’s web­site or stop by and speak with your librarian. 

Tak­ing Steps Now to Reduce Your Risk of Demen­tia As You Age 

Low­er­ing your risk of demen­tia involves more than just using the inter­net. While reg­u­lar and pur­pose­ful inter­net usage may play a role, there are oth­er ways to flex your brain mus­cles, such as read­ing, engag­ing in a new hob­by, play­ing board games, and social­iz­ing with others. 

You can also keep your brain healthy by: 

• Get­ting reg­u­lar exercise 
• Not smok­ing
• Avoid­ing exces­sive alco­hol use
• Pre­vent­ing and treat­ing hear­ing loss
• Man­ag­ing oth­er health con­di­tions, like depres­sion, high blood pres­sure, and dia­betes

The health­i­er you keep your body, the health­i­er your brain will be as you get old­er. By tak­ing mea­sures now to main­tain your body’s and brain’s health, you can do your best to pre­vent dementia.