Expert links 'staggering' 400 per cent dementia spike in young people to screen use

An everyday pastime has triggered a staggering spike in young-onset dementia, with experts revealing the youngest known case is just 19 years old.

Rising rates of dementia linked to screen use in people aged 20 and 30 has experts worried. Picture: iStock

Excessive screen use is being blamed for a shocking spike in the number of young people being diagnosed with dementia – the youngest known case globally is just 19.

Australia’s internationally-recognised professor of cognitive neuroscience Mark Williams describes as “staggering” the rise in cases of dementia in people aged “in their 20s and 30s”.

“We’re seeing a real trend towards younger and younger people getting diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia ... they’re just not functioning the way they were functioning – they’re forgetting things, or they’re getting lost,” he said.

“The big, big jump that we’re seeing – and have a lot of data for – is in the 30 to 44-year-old age group, where there has been an almost 400 per cent increase which is really, really staggering.

“The fact this is increasing at an alarming rate for the young generation is a major concern; the youngest we’ve ever seen is 19 which is really, really scary.”

Dr Mark Williams is a professor of neuroscience. Picture: supplied

Dr Williams said US research revealed a rise of about 300 per cent in the number of cases of dementia in people aged 45 to 54 and about 140 per cent increase in the 55 to 65 age bracket, which all fall in the early onset dementia category.

“And (the reality is) there are probably a lot of people who haven’t yet got the diagnosis – who are in their 20s and 30s,” the director of educational neuroscience company Rethinking the Brain said.

“What is going to happen with the 10 to 20-year-olds who have spent their whole life on devices? What is going to happen in 10, 15 or 20 years time?”

Dr Williams said the link between screen use and rising rates of dementia in younger people couldn’t be ignored, pointing, too, to a 10-year national decline in IQ and rising rates of ADHD in kids.

“It is because of the fact we are no longer using our brains the same way we used to; we don’t need to calculate anymore, we don’t have to consider any more, we don’t have to argue with people any more ... we don’t have to connect with people any more in the real world,” he said.

“We know learning and using your brain in positive ways builds cognitive capacity which actually decreases the likelihood of getting dementia; we also know that being on a device decreases your cognitive capacity ... (it) can be fairly directly-linked.”

Brains are losing cognitive capacity by not being used enough, experts say. Picture : iStock

Meanwhile, clinical psychologist Danielle Einstein said higher social media use was tied to “impairments in memory, decision-making and the ability to focus on tasks”.

“A 2025 study followed over 6,500 adolescents for two years and found that those who regularly used social media performed worse in cognitive tasks than adolescents who rarely used social media”, the Einstein Report author said.

It is estimated there are now 30,000 Australians living with younger onset dementia, tipped to rise to 50,000 over coming years – dementia is now officially the nation’s leading cause of death.

“Absolutely we see (dementia in younger people) ... in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s ... it is a really timely reminder that there are things that people can be doing to protect their brain health,” Dementia Australia’s Sophie Hennessy said.

Originally published as Expert links 'staggering' 400 per cent dementia spike in young people to screen use