Digital devices may help ward off cognitive decline in older people

There is much concern about the notion of “digital dementia” – the idea that relying on smartphones and the internet reduces a person’s cognitive abilities. But among those over 50 at least, these technologies appear to actually have the opposite effect.

A meta-analysis of nearly 60 studies involving 410,000 people in this age group has found that those who spend more time using smartphones, computers and the internet are less likely to have cognitive impairment – and more likely to have slower cognitive decline – than…