Maintaining cognitive function with internet use: a two-country, six-year longitudinal study

Abstract

Objectives:Maintaining good cognitive function with aging may be aided by technology such as computers, tablets, and their applications. Little research so far has investigated whether internet use helps to maintain cognitive function over time.Design:Two population-based studies with a longitudinal design from 2001/2003 (T1) to 2007/2010 (T2).Setting:Sweden and the Netherlands.Participants:Older adults aged 66 years and above from the Swedish National Study on Ageing and Care (N = 2,564) and from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (N = 683).Measurements:Internet use was self-reported. Using the scores from the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) from T1 and T2, both a difference score and a significant change index was calculated. Linear and logistic regression analysis were performed with difference score and significant change index, respectively, as the dependent variable and internet use as the independent variable, and adjusted for sex, education, age, living situation, and functional limitations. Using a meta-analytic approach, summary coefficients were calculated across both studies.Results:Internet use at baseline was 26.4% in Sweden and 13.3% in the Netherlands. Significant cognitive decline over six years amounted to 9.2% in Sweden and 17.0% in the Netherlands. Considering the difference score, the summary linear regression coefficient for internet use was −0.32 (95% CI: −0.62, −0.02). Considering the significant change index, the summary odds ratio for internet use was 0.54 (95% CI: 0.37, 0.78).Conclusions:The results suggest that internet use might play a role in maintaining cognitive functioning. Further research into the specific activities that older adults are doing on the internet may shine light on this issue.

Mid-life and late life activities and their relationship with MRI measures of brain structure and functional connectivity in the UK Biobank cohort

“…Parallel associations with cognitive test performance was also observed for late life computer use. These findings are in line with prior findings suggesting that frequent computer [25] and internet use [26] are linked to better cognitive function. Further, a large body of evidence support the notion that computerized cognitive training programmes lead to improvements in trained cognitive domains, with some findings suggesting transfer to untrained domains (e.g.…”

Potential mediators of the relationship between internet usage and cognition

“…In this issue, Berner et al (2019) analyzed two large European longitudinal datasets of older adults to examine if use of the internet had an impact on cognitive functioning. They found that older people who reported being internet users at baseline demonstrated less cognitive decline controlling for initial cognitive status.…”

“…Kamin and Lang (2018) predicted time 2 values with baseline values while this study used a change score, so the two results using different methods of measuring change are consistent. Additionally, Berner et al (2019) used the MMSE to access cognitive functioning while Kamin and Lang (2018) used a composite of a set of cognitive assessments including the animal naming task and the serial 7s task. Clearly, to more systematically address the association between internet use and cognitive change, more robust measures of cognition and internet use are needed.…”

Untitled

“…Second, we relied on cross-sectional data instead of longitudinal data in our analysis. Researchers need to conduct future work in which they measure user experience with the soft service robot from prototype testing to post-implementation assessment (see longitudinal assessment in Berner et al (2019)). Third, we relied on proxies, such as education and independence, to describe the cognitive ability of older adults who participated in the survey.…”