The DOI matches its Crossref record; 136 of the 136 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The “online brain”: how the Internet may be changing our cognition
Open accessAbstract
The impact of the Internet across multiple aspects of modern society is clear. However, the influence that it may have on our brain structure and functioning remains a central topic of investigation. Here we draw on recent psychological, psychiatric and neuroimaging findings to examine several key hypotheses on how the Internet may be changing our cognition. Specifically, we explore how unique features of the online world may be influencing: a) attentional capacities, as the constantly evolving stream of online information encourages our divided attention across multiple media sources, at the expense of sustained concentration; b) memory processes, as this vast and ubiquitous source of online information begins to shift the way we retrieve, store, and even value knowledge; and c) social cognition, as the ability for online social settings to resemble and evoke real‐world social processes creates a new interplay between the Internet and our social lives, including our self‐concepts and self‐esteem. Overall, the available evidence indicates that the Internet can produce both acute and sustained alterations in each of these areas of cognition, which may be reflected in changes in the brain. However, an emerging priority for future research is to determine the effects of extensive online media usage on cognitive development in youth, and examine how this may differ from cognitive outcomes and brain impact of uses of Internet in the elderly. We conclude by proposing how Internet research could be integrated into broader research settings to study how this unprecedented new facet of society can affect our cognition and the brain across the life course.
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“Moreover, students who exceed 2 hours of daily screen time on social media tend to exhibit poorer performance on cognitive assessments in comparison to those with restricted screen time (Firth, Torous, Stubbs, Steiner, Smith,2019).”
From SCROLLING AND SUSTAINED ATTENTION: HOW SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE SUSTAINED ATTENTION OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS (2024) · cites this paper as Firth, Torous, Stubbs, Steiner, Smith,2019
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In the citing paper
“Our findings are consistent with previous research indicating that excessive reliance on AI tools can negatively impact critical thinking skills.”
From AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking (2025) · cites this paper as Firth et al. [24]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
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“Children who used digital tools for more than 2 h per day had lower scores on cognitive tests than those who used them less (Firth et al., 2019).”
From The impact of digital technology, social media, and artificial intelligence on cognitive functions: a review (2023) · cites this paper as Firth et al., 2019
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“Paradoxically, social media use is linked to social isolation (ie, a lack of social connections and quality relationships with others),21 which is associated with poor health outcomes and increased mortality.1”
From Brain health consequences of digital technology use (2020) · cites this paper as [1]
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“We have indeed transitioned now from the information age to the age of interruption (Firth et al., 2019).”
From The impact of digital technology, social media, and artificial intelligence on cognitive functions: a review (2023) · cites this paper as Firth et al., 2019
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“On the other hand, they highlight that the Internet is an unprecedented form of extended memory.”
From The Cognitive Architecture of Digital Externalization (2023) · cites this paper as Firth et al. (2019)
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“On the one hand, they summarize how the Internet is a major drain on attention in everyday life.”
From The Cognitive Architecture of Digital Externalization (2023) · cites this paper as Firth et al. (2019)
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“constant Internet usage may be affecting our cognitive and social processes, along with mental health and brain functioning 124 .”
From A meta-review of "lifestyle psychiatry": the role of exercise, smoking, diet and sleep in the prevention and treatment of mental disorders (2020) · cites this paper as [124]
In the citing paper
“engagement through the MyCHOIS–CommonGround website was associated with a higher level of ongoing engagement in out-patient mental health service compared to that of the control group”
From The role of shared decision-making in improving adherence to pharmacological treatments in patients with schizophrenia: A clinical review (2020) · cites this paper as [47]
In the citing paper
“although no significant differences were found in the adherence rate with antipsychotic medication”
From The role of shared decision-making in improving adherence to pharmacological treatments in patients with schizophrenia: A clinical review (2020) · cites this paper as [47]
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“Another noticeable advantage was the cost-effectiveness of the intervention which makes it particularly suitable for attaining long-term outcomes in patients with severe mental disorders [46–50]”
From The role of shared decision-making in improving adherence to pharmacological treatments in patients with schizophrenia: A clinical review (2020) · cites this paper as [47]
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Citations
Cites
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Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- Perrin A, 2018, About a quarter of US adults say they are ‘almost constantly’ online, Pew Research Center, March, 14
- Kay M, 2011, mHealth: new horizons for health through mobile technologies
- Royal Society of Public Health, 2017, Status of mind: social media and young people's mental health
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Torous, J., Bucci, S., Bell, I. H., Kessing, L. V., Faurholt‐Jepsen, M., Whelan, P., Carvalho, A. F., Keshavan, M., Linardon, J., & Firth, J. (2021) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.20883 · Cited by 1,199
“The impact of social media on the developing brain also re mains an unresolved 61 yet frequently discussed topic, especially as the pandemic has forced increasing reliance on technology to connect people.”
BackgroundSelf-citationFirth, J., Solmi, M., Wootton, R. E., Vancampfort, D., Schuch, F. B., Hoare, E., Gilbody, S., Torous, J., Teasdale, S. B., Jackson, S. E., et al. (2020) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.20773 · Cited by 1,242
Self-citationAI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking
Gerlich, M. (2025) · Societies · doi:10.3390/soc15010006 · Cited by 1,248
“Another study [24] explores how digital tools and the Internet affect various cognitive functions, including attention, memory, and critical thinking, offering insights into the potential downsides of heavy reliance on digital technologies.”
The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health
McGorry, P. D., Mei, C., Dalal, N., Alvarez-Jimenez, M., Blakemore, S.-J., Browne, V., Dooley, B., Hickie, I. B., Jones, P. B., McDaid, D., et al. (2024) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(24)00163-9 · Cited by 663
Brain health consequences of digital technology use
Small, G. W., Lee, J., Kaufman, A., Jalil, J., Siddarth, P., Gaddipati, H., Moody, T. D., & Bookheimer, S. Y. (2020) · Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.31887/dcns.2020.22.2/gsmall · Cited by 491
Metadata
- Authors
- Firth, J., Torous, J., Stubbs, B., Firth, J. A., Steiner, G. Z., Smith, L., Alvarez‐Jimenez, M., Gleeson, J., Vancampfort, D., Armitage, C. J., & Sarris, J.
- Affiliations
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (US)
- National Health Service (GB)
- Western Sydney University (AU)
- Anglia Ruskin University (GB)
- Centre for Youth Mental Health University of Melbourne Melbourne Australia
- KU Leuven (BE)
- Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (GB)
- ORCID
- Venue
- World Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2019-05-06
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 119-129
- ISSN
- 1723-8617 (ISSN-L)
- 2051-5545
- PMC
- PMC6502424
- OpenAlex
- W2944285188
- Cited by
- 694
- References
- 135
- Citations by year
- 2026: 136 · 2025: 100 · 2024: 98 · 2023: 145 · 2022: 76 · 2021: 77 · 2020: 46 · 2019: 16
- FWCI
- 108.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- World Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Lirias (KU Leuven) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Anglia Ruskin Research Online (Anglia Ruskin University) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (APP1125000, ICA-CL-2017-03-001, NIHR-INF-0685)
- NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre
- Patient Safety Translational Research Centre
- Manchester Biomedical Research Centre
- Medical Research Council
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/S009752/1)
- National Health and Medical Research Council (1102532, 1125000, 1082934)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Communication › Digital Media and Philosophy
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Personal Information Management and User Behavior
- Keywords
- internet use, cognitive change, attention, divided attention, sustained attention, memory, online information, social cognition, self-concept, self-esteem, online social interaction
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