Searching the internet, not just owning a device, linked to better cognition in older adults

Older adults who use the internet to search for information show markedly lower rates of low cognitive function than those who merely own a digital device, according to a cross-sectional study of community-dwelling older adults published in Aging Clinical and Experimental Research. The finding, drawn from 821 participants with a mean age of 78.4 years, suggests that the cognitive benefit often attributed to digital technology may depend less on possession of a device and more on the active, mentally demanding behaviour of searching for information online.

The research team, led by Kento Tabira and colleagues including Hyuma Makizako, set out to disentangle two factors that are usually bundled together in studies of technology and ageing: owning a digital device and actually using it to search the internet. Because device ownership and internet search use are often considered together despite potentially differing levels of cognitive engagement, the authors argued that previous work may have blurred an important distinction. Digital device use has been associated with cognitive function in earlier research, but the specific contribution of search activity itself had remained unclear.

Participants were assessed by self-report and sorted into three groups: non-digital device owners, device owners who did not use the internet for searching, and device owners who did. Cognitive function was measured with a validated virtual reality-based eye-tracking examination, and low cognitive function was defined as a total score below 75. The sample was predominantly female, at 91.7 percent, and the researchers adjusted their analyses for a wide range of potential confounders, including age, sex, educational level, living status, polypharmacy, depressive symptoms, hypertension, history of stroke, and history of Parkinson’s disease.

The results revealed a striking gradient. Low cognitive function was present in 70.2 percent of non-device owners, 57.8 percent of device owners who did not search the internet, and just 30.6 percent of those who combined ownership with internet search use. Yet when the groups were compared statistically, only the searchers stood out. Device owners without internet search use did not have significantly different odds of low cognitive function compared with non-owners, with an odds ratio of 0.70 and a 95 percent confidence interval of 0.37 to 1.35, and a P value of .291. Device owners with internet search use, by contrast, had significantly lower odds, with an odds ratio of 0.39, a 95 percent confidence interval of 0.20 to 0.75, and a P value of .005.

The authors concluded that digital device ownership accompanied by internet search use was more strongly associated with lower odds of low cognitive function than ownership alone. In practical terms, the raw prevalence figures imply that search users were less than half as likely to fall below the cognitive threshold as non-owners, while simple ownership without searching offered no statistically detectable advantage after adjustment.

Several caveats temper the interpretation. The study was cross-sectional, meaning it captured a single moment in time and cannot establish whether internet searching protects cognition or whether people with better cognitive function are simply more inclined to search online. Self-reported device ownership and search use may also be subject to misclassification, and the heavily female sample may limit how far the findings generalise. The virtual reality-based eye-tracking examination, while validated, represents one specific way of operationalising cognitive function. The authors note these associations were observed in community-dwelling older adults, and the article was published as a peer-reviewed, accepted version shared early, subject to further edits before the final Version of Record.

Subject of Research: Associations of digital device ownership and internet search use with low cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults

Article Title: Internet search use is more strongly associated with low cognitive function than digital device ownership among community-dwelling older adults

Article References: Tabira, K., Shiratsuchi, D., Miyake, Y., Fukumori, M., & Makizako, H. (2026). Internet search use is more strongly associated with low cognitive function than digital device ownership among community-dwelling older adults. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-026-03547-5

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s40520-026-03547-5

Keywords: cognitive function, older adults, internet search, digital devices, cross-sectional study, eye-tracking, community-dwelling, digital divide, ageing, logistic regression, Internet, search