Digital Dementia in the Generation Born After 2010: Signs, Consequences, and Challenges

Preprint.This manuscript is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed.It is currently under consideration for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Digital Dementia in the Generation Born After 2010: Signs, Consequences, and Challenges Author: Sergey Germanovich Kolesnyak September 2025 Annotation This article examines the phenomenon of "digital dementia," coined by Manfred Spitzer, and its consequences for children and adolescents born after 2010. It analyzes the cognitive, emotional, and physical changes caused by early and intensive use of digital devices. Particular attention is paid to computer games and short videos (TikTok, YouTube Shorts) as factors accelerating cognitive decline. Keywords: digital dementia, cognitive functions, teenagers, gadgets, memory, attention, computer games, short video. Introduction Today's children and adolescents are developing cognitive and social habits in a digitally transformed world. From an early age, smartphones and tablets become an integral part of their daily lives. South Korean neuroscientist Manfred Spitzer coined the term "digital dementia" to describe the accelerated decline of cognitive function, similar to dementia but occurring at a young age [1]. The problem's urgency is driven by the fact that the generation born after 2010 spends an average of up to nine hours a day in front of screens. This exceeds their sleep time and effectively creates a new type of cognitive addiction.