Daily internet use supercharges your memory!

Frequent internet users perform better on memory tasks, indicating a ‘use it or lose it’ effect that keeps the brain sharp when recalling daily events.

Study: Frequent Internet use is associated with better episodic memory performance. Image credits: fizkes / Shutterstock.com

A recent study published in the journal Scientific reports reveals that frequent Internet use can improve episodic memory in adults.

How does the internet affect memory?

The widespread accessibility of the Internet has significantly changed modern life in profound and far-reaching ways. For example, many people use the Internet to gather information about career opportunities, travel, shop and make new friends or renew old friendships through various social media. Despite the crucial role it plays in society, it remains unclear how Internet use, especially at the intense frequency at which it is used, can influence human cognition, and especially episodic memory.

Episodic memory refers to the ability to learn, store, and retrieve memories of specific past events related to daily activities. In comparison, semantic memory refers to the memory of meanings, insights, and concepts related to facts, information, and general knowledge about the world.

Existing evidence shows that Internet information can influence typical memory processes. The Internet is considered a form of transactive memory, where people must remember the source of the information source, rather than the information itself. These observations indicate that people are likely to become increasingly dependent on the Internet to retrieve information.

About the study

The current study analyzed data from the British Household Longitudinal Study, which included a nationally representative sample of 36,542 individuals, 44% of whom were women and had a mean age of 46 years.

Self-reported frequencies of Internet use were categorized as “Every day,” “Several times a week,” “Several times a month,” “Several times a year,” and “Never.” The episodic memory of the study participants was assessed using immediate and delayed word recall tasks. The demographic characteristics of the participants, including age, gender, monthly income, highest level of education, marital status, and place of residence, were considered as control variables.

Important observations

The research analysis taking into account demographic characteristics showed that the frequency of Internet use has a significant impact on episodic memory, with changes observed for immediate and delayed recall tasks.

Immediate task execution

Research participants who used the Internet every day performed better on the immediate recall task than those who used the Internet several times a week, several times a month, several times a year, or never. Similarly, individuals who used the Internet several times a week performed better on the immediate recall tasks than those who used the Internet several times a month, several times a year, or never.

For other categories of Internet use, a similar positive association between frequency of Internet use and performance on the immediate recall task was observed.

Delayed execution of recall tasks

Compared with study participants belonging to other Internet use categories, superior performance on delayed recall tasks was observed in everyday Internet users. A similar positive effect of Internet use frequency on the performance of delayed recall tasks was observed in all other Internet use categories.

Study meaning

The current study identifies a positive association between frequency of Internet use and episodic memory in a large and nationally representative cohort of individuals from Great Britain

People who use the Internet more often performed significantly better on both immediate and delayed recall tasks than those who use it less often. This association supports the critical involvement of episodic memory in transactive memory associated with Internet use.

The study’s findings support evidence that the Internet acts as transactive memory and that episodic memory is activated when an individual tries to remember where the external information is stored. These observations also support the “use it or lose it” theory, which suggests that the continued use of any skill improves that skill. Based on this theory, the current study suggests that the frequent use of episodic memory during online activities is associated with improvements in episodic memory performance.

Digital environments can thus promote cognitive processes that are beneficial for both current functioning and future planning. Nevertheless, additional studies are needed to explore the association between Internet use and other types of memories, explore how these associations may be affected in different contexts and platforms, and relate to brain structure and functions.

The current research can be used as empirical evidence to develop public health guidelines and digital therapy for people with psychological and neurological conditions such as episodic dementia.”