4d ago

Older people who use smartphones ‘have lower rates of cognitive decline’

www.theguardian.com

More work is needed to explain the findings, but the researchers suspect a two-way relationship underpins the results. In this scenario, people with better thinking skills are more likely to use digital devices, but there are also cognitive benefits to be had from embracing the technology.

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6d ago

Article

Older people who use smartphones ‘have lower rates of cognitive decline’

www.theguardian.com /science/2025/apr/14/older-people-use-smartphones-lower-rates-cognitive-decline

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4d ago

22 year old girl uses neurolink for the first time.

www.theguardian.com /science/2025/apr/14/older-people-use-smartphones-lower-rates-cognitive-decline

56 comments

“It is unclear whether the technology staves off mental decline, or whether people with better cognitive skills simply use them more.”
It’s very early stages of the research then. In my experience elderly people use smartphones very differently to kids. Also, their personal development has past the formative stages so I imagine the devices cause less disruption.
There’s no doubt that they ruin the brains and lives of our kids though, as the research video posted on Lemmy.world recently makes clear.
Edit: Here it is. Brain scans show that screen addiction is the same as drug addiction as far as development of brain pathway changes and brain chemistry are concerned. Only difference is we haven’t had addicts this young and at this scale before. Memory, empathy, cognition and impulsivity are all impacted. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ViT6LyLm6E
- I think definitely causation correlation.
  Working geek squad the people who were more with it tech wise were people just willing to learn. If you maintain the ability to learn then you'll be fine, and it makes sense that those elderly people who learn their smartphones are doing better. I don't think it's because of smartphones. I think them able to use their smartphones is because they are okay with adaptation and change
- Could you link that video?
  
  Okay. I updated my original comment.
  
  I wonder if seniors can't be addicted to screens as well? It's true that excessive screen time promotes addiction, but I doubt that normal screen use invariably leads to addiction, especially if there are other activities and the evidence-based AAP guidelines are obeyed: no screen time other than video chatting until 2 years old, and co-viewing, discussion, and regulate which content to watch after that until 5. The outsize impact of Cocomelon vs much saner toddler shows has also been documented.
  
  It’s possible, the first example in the linked video is of a young kid who has become addicted to YouTube. The content seems benign: animated nursery rhymes. But that case is presented with less detail on the exact usage. I’m curious what you’ll make of it. I’m halfway through.
  
  https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2024/05/17/why-kids-shows-like-cocomelon-hamper-critical-brain-development/
  Forbes Contributor Sites are basically disguised blogs, but this one is from a psychologist.
  
  It's because parents are too overworked to spend time with their kids. That's the whole story
  
  There's overworked and having your kid watch Bluey, and then there's overworked and having your kid watch Cocomelon. One is far worse.
  
  Really interesting and specific, thank you. Interestingly I saw a parent online talking about how she plays the cartoons her kids watch at .75 speed. They were stressing her out and she probably suspected it wasn’t good for her kids either.
  
  Yes, us old people can become just as addicted to phones as easily as a 14 year old. And with the same stupid shit. On the other hand, it can help keep cognitive abilities working better and helping to keep more interested in the world around you. But it can impair judgement and let people slid into poor mental hygiene. And us old people have a very hard time with those two things anyway.
  But, despite my great fear of losing my mental acuity and abilities, I can feel the small cracks beginning to form around the edges of my mind. I work hard to keep learning new things and mastering new skills. From learning how to make my own bacon this past summer to learning how to bake bread this winter. While working out a new model steam engine design that I might build next winter. Plus adding some 3D printing designs to upload for others to possibly enjoy and use. And today I'm driving 300 miles to pick up a new puppy to train to hunt grouse with me in the fall. (I lost my beautiful little baby girl Tara to kidney failure this early spring). This puppy might well out live me when it's all said and done.
  The fear of decline is real and I know it's inevitable.
- “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”- Socrates
  
  Misattributed to Socrates. Mis/disinformation spreads quickly over the Internet, so it's up to all of us not to be vectors for it.
  We have increasingly extensive bodies of scientific evidence indicating the harms of giving young kids the sort of near-unrestricted access to smart devices and social media that are common in society today.
  That one person said "something similar bad" but it wasn't actually that bad in the past (or even that this is a pattern) doesn't invalidate scientific evidence. If kids started smoking cigarettes en masse, you could pull up this exact same quote, and it would be just as strong an argument as it is here.
- Addiction is fascist rhetoric. Even councillors who help people with drug use problems are rethinking the addiction model
  
  Are you sure that they are doubting the very idea that one could become addicted?
  
  Yes. Shit life circumstances explain addiction better than biochemistry
  
  Circumstances, adverse childhood experiences, can be huge factors. Experiments have shown mice choose to give up heroin for better living conditions, for example. It doesn’t mean that addiction doesn’t exist within us too. And that biological something needs a name.
  
  Sooty circumstances propel one to turn to starting an addiction. Doesn't mean addiction isn't a thing.
  
  Addiction is fascist 😂😂 Jesus Christ man, touch some grass

56 comments