Worried Your Phone Is Weakening Your Memory? A Study Of 411,000 Older Adults Suggests The Opposite

By Paul E. Bendheim, MD — Founder of BrainSavers; board-certified neurologist and Clinical Professor of Neurology, University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix; author of The Brain Training Revolution: A Proven Workout for Healthy Brain Aging

Benge JF, Scullin MK. "A meta-analysis of technology use and cognitive aging." Nature Human Behaviour, volume 9, pages 1405–1419, 2025.

Many of us now keep everything in our phones: appointments, pills, a grandson's birthday. It's natural to wonder whether that is letting our memory go soft.

It's a reasonable worry. There is even a name for the fear: digital dementia, the idea that handing our memory over to screens and devices will speed up cognitive decline. A large study published in 2025 put that idea to the test, and the answer should reassure anyone who has ever set a reminder on a phone.

Remembering To Remember

In our sessions on prospective memory, we talk about the kind of memory that looks forward rather than back. It is remembering to do something in the future: take a medication, call a friend on her birthday, show up for an appointment.

Of the steps involved, the hardest is usually the moment when the intention has to come back to you at the right time. Most of the time nothing in the room prompts you. That is exactly the step a calendar alert or an alarm supplies. The question is whether leaning on that help costs you something in the long run.

What The Researchers Did

Two scientists set out to answer it. Dr. Jared Benge is a clinical neuropsychologist in the Department of Neurology at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Michael Scullin studies psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University. They point out that today's older adults are the first generation to spend decades living alongside computers, the internet, and smartphones. Someone born in 1945 grew up with paper maps, encyclopedias, and letters sent by mail. Today, that same person may have a phone that tells them where to turn and when their next appointment is.

The researchers gathered every study they could find that looked at everyday use of digital technology by people over 50 and then measured their thinking or their dementia diagnoses. They found 136 papers. Fifty-seven had the kind of data that could be combined in a meta-analysis, a study that pools many studies to get a clearer answer than any one of them can give. Together those studies followed 411,430 adults, with an average age of about 69 at the start. Some were snapshots in time. Others followed people for as long as 18 years, about six years on average.

What They Found

People who used digital technology had lower odds of cognitive impairment. Across the studies, technology users had about 58 percent lower odds of cognitive impairment than people who didn't use it.

They also declined more slowly. In the studies that followed people over time, technology use went along with a rate of cognitive decline that was about 26 percent lower.

The finding held up. It was still there after the researchers accounted for education, income, health, and other factors that tend to go along with a healthy brain. It was also still there when they looked only at the highest-quality studies.

The digital dementia fear wasn't supported. The authors describe the opposite idea, which they call technological reserve. If cognitive reserve is the cushion you build through a lifetime of learning and staying engaged, technological reserve is the possibility that using these devices adds to that cushion.

Dr. Scullin summed it up this way in Baylor University's announcement of the study: "The net effect since the 1990s has been positive for overall cognition in older adults."

Why Would A Phone Help?

The authors suggest three ways technology might support the aging brain.

The first is challenge. Learning a new device is hard, and hard is good for the brain. Dr. Scullin put it memorably: "I'm so frustrated by this computer. This is hard to learn. That's actually a reflection of the cognitive challenge, which may be beneficial."

The second is connection. A video call with a grandchild or a text thread with old friends keeps people in touch, and staying socially connected is one of the pillars of brain health.

The third is the one that matters most for prospective memory: compensation. The authors write that older adults today live in a world where "prospective memory is supported by digital calendars with automatic reminders." They cite developing evidence that handing some remembering to a device can help people keep functioning well, even as memory changes with age.

What This Study Does Not Say

This was a review of observational studies. It shows that technology use and better thinking go together. It does not prove that using a phone protects your brain. Some of the link probably runs the other way: people whose thinking is already strong may find new technology easier to take up. The authors themselves say more work is needed to sort out cause and effect.

The studies also measured general technology use, such as computers, the internet, and smartphones, rather than reminders in particular. And nobody is suggesting that hours of passive scrolling are good for you.

The Takeaway

For years people have felt a little guilty about writing things down or setting an alarm, as if it were cheating. A reminder isn't a crutch that weakens you. It's a tool, the same as a pair of reading glasses. Put your energy into the things only you can do: learning something new, keeping up with people, and staying engaged. Let the calendar handle the timing.

Three Things You Can Do This Week

• Put your next appointment in your phone or calendar with two alerts, one the day before and one an hour before.

• Set an alarm for a medication you sometimes forget. Ask your pharmacist or healthcare provider about the best time of day to take it.

• Learn one new thing on your device, such as a video call, sharing a photo, or a voice reminder. If it frustrates you a little, that's the exercise.

You are not simply a passenger on the journey of your own brain aging, and sometimes the smartest move is knowing when to let a good tool do the remembering.

This article is for general educational purposes and is not medical advice. Talk with your own healthcare provider before making changes to your health, exercise, or medication routine.