IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i24p9481-d464068.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the Impact of Internet Use on Memory and Attention Processes

Author

Listed:
  • Josh A. Firth

    (Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 8QJ, UK
    Merton College, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 8QJ, UK)

  • John Torous

    (Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA)

  • Joseph Firth

    (Division of Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
    NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia)

Abstract

The rapid uptake of the internet has provided a new platform for people to engage with almost all aspects of life. As such, it is currently crucial to investigate the relationship between the internet and cognition across contexts and the underlying neurobiological mechanisms driving this. We describe the current understanding of this relationship across the literature and outline the state of knowledge surrounding the potential neurobiological drivers. Through focusing on two key areas of the nascent but growing literature, first the individual- and population-level implications for attention processes and second the neurobiological drivers underpinning internet usage and memory, we describe the implications of the internet for cognition, assess the potential mechanisms linking brain structure to cognition, and elucidate how these influence behaviour. Finally, we identify areas that now require investigation, including (i) the importance of the variation in individual levels of internet usage, (ii) potential individual behavioural implications and emerging population-level effects, and the (iii) interplay between age and the internet–brain relationships across the stages of development.

Suggested Citation

  • Josh A. Firth & John Torous & Joseph Firth, 2020. "Exploring the Impact of Internet Use on Memory and Attention Processes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:24:p:9481-:d:464068
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9481/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9481/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William R. Hobbs & Moira K. Burke, 2017. "Connective recovery in social networks after the death of a friend," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 1(5), pages 1-6, May.
    2. Kep Kee Loh & Ryota Kanai, 2014. "Higher Media Multi-Tasking Activity Is Associated with Smaller Gray-Matter Density in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(9), pages 1-7, September.
    3. Duncan J. Watts, 2007. "A twenty-first century science," Nature, Nature, vol. 445(7127), pages 489-489, February.
    4. Eveline A. Crone & Elly A. Konijn, 2018. "Media use and brain development during adolescence," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-10, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chong Myung Park & Angelica Rodriguez & Jazmin Rubi Flete Gomez & Isahiah Erilus & Hayoung Kim Donnelly & Yanling Dai & Alexandra Oliver-Davila & Paul Trunfio & Cecilia Nardi & Kimberly A. S. Howard &, 2021. "Embedding Life Design in Future Readiness Efforts to Promote Collective Impact and Economically Sustainable Communities: Conceptual Frameworks and Case Example," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-17, November.
    2. Letchford, Adrian & Preis, Tobias & Moat, Helen Susannah, 2016. "The advantage of simple paper abstracts," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8.
    3. Kovacic, Matija & Orso, Cristina Elisa, 2024. "Adverse childhood experiences and social media use in adulthood. Evidence from a novel EU survey," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1531, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Eric C Leas & Benjamin M Althouse & Mark Dredze & Nick Obradovich & James H Fowler & Seth M Noar & Jon-Patrick Allem & John W Ayers, 2016. "Big Data Sensors of Organic Advocacy: The Case of Leonardo DiCaprio and Climate Change," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-9, August.
    5. Przemyslaw A Grabowicz & José J Ramasco & Esteban Moro & Josep M Pujol & Victor M Eguiluz, 2012. "Social Features of Online Networks: The Strength of Intermediary Ties in Online Social Media," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(1), pages 1-9, January.
    6. Wang, Tao & Wang, Hongjue & Wang, Xiaoxia, 2015. "A novel cosine distance for detecting communities in complex networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 437(C), pages 21-35.
    7. Maxime Lenormand & Antònia Tugores & Pere Colet & José J Ramasco, 2014. "Tweets on the Road," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(8), pages 1-12, August.
    8. Sumera Batool & Nimra Zaffer & Saima Kausar, 2023. "Real vs Virtual Identity: A Contemporary Analysis of Social Displacement Accelerating Anti-social Behavior Among Youth," Journal of Policy Research (JPR), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 9(2), pages 750-759.
    9. Flávio L Pinheiro & Jorge M Pacheco & Francisco C Santos, 2012. "From Local to Global Dilemmas in Social Networks," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(2), pages 1-6, February.
    10. Tassiello, Vito & Viglia, Giampaolo & Mattila, Anna S., 2018. "How handwriting reduces negative online ratings," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 171-179.
    11. Tao Zhou & Matúš Medo & Giulio Cimini & Zi-Ke Zhang & Yi-Cheng Zhang, 2011. "Emergence of Scale-Free Leadership Structure in Social Recommender Systems," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-6, July.
    12. Kelton Minor & Esteban Moro & Nick Obradovich, 2023. "Adverse weather amplifies social media activity," Papers 2302.08456, arXiv.org.
    13. Biernesser, Candice & Sewall, Craig J.R. & Brent, David & Bear, Todd & Mair, Christina & Trauth, Jeanette, 2020. "Social media use and deliberate self-harm among youth: A systematized narrative review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    14. Serguei Saavedra & Jordi Duch & Brian Uzzi, 2011. "Tracking Traders' Understanding of the Market Using e-Communication Data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(10), pages 1-7, October.
    15. Merrill, Renae A. & Liang, Xinya, 2019. "Associations between adolescent media use, mental health, and risky sexual behaviors," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 1-9.
    16. Leila M Naeni & Hugh Craig & Regina Berretta & Pablo Moscato, 2016. "A Novel Clustering Methodology Based on Modularity Optimisation for Detecting Authorship Affinities in Shakespearean Era Plays," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-27, August.
    17. Li, Heyang & Zeng, An, 2022. "Improving recommendation by connecting user behavior in temporal and topological dimensions," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 585(C).
    18. Olaosebikan, Olusola Isaac (Ph.D.) & Olorunyomi, Titilope Adetilewa (Ph.D.), 2023. "Effect of Electronic and Digital Media Use on the Health of Adolescents in Ondo City," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(11), pages 1745-1758, November.
    19. Guo, Qiang & Ji, Lei & Liu, Jian-Guo & Han, Jingti, 2017. "Evolution properties of online user preference diversity," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 468(C), pages 698-713.
    20. Petroutsatou Kleopatra & Sifiniadis Anestis, 2016. "Exploring the consequences of human multitasking in industrial automation projects: a tool to mitigate impacts – Part II," Organization, Technology and Management in Construction, Sciendo, vol. 10(1), pages 1770-1777, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:24:p:9481-:d:464068. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.