Daily TV linked to memory decline in over 50s

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2019/feb/daily-tv-linked-memory-decline-over-50s

28 February 2019

Watching television for more than three and a half hours a day in later life is associated with a decline in verbal memory, according to new research from UCL.

The study, published today in Scientific Reports, analysed data from 3,662 adults aged 50 and over and found that watching TV for more than three and a half hours per day was associated with a decline in memory of words and language over the following six years. The association was independent of other individual socio-economic, behavioural and lifestyle factors including time spent sitting down.

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Researchers found that adults who watched television for more than three and a half hours a day experienced on average an 8% to 10% decrease in verbal memory, while those who watched less than three and a half hours of television per day experienced on average a decrease in verbal memory of around 4% to 5% over the same period.

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The co-authors Dr Daisy Fancourt and Professor Andrew Steptoe (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care) also suggested that watching television could reduce the amount of time that people spend on activities that could contribute to cognitive preservation, such as reading. Additionally, interactive screen-based activities, such as video gaming and using the internet, can have cognitive benefits such as improved problem-solving skills, but the alert-but-passive nature of television watching may create cognitive stress which could contribute to memory decline.

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