Digital Technology and Neuroplasticity: Implications for Cognitive Development - A Theoretical Review

Abstract

Digital technology has become a major component of the developmental environment, influencing how individuals attend to information, remember, learn, communicate, and regulate behaviour. Neuroplasticity provides an important framework for understanding these effects because neural systems remain responsive to repeated experience across the lifespan, with particularly rapid reorganization during childhood and adolescence. The present theoretical review synthesizes psychological, neuroscientific, developmental, and educational research published primarily between 2000 and 2019 on the relationship between digital technology, neural plasticity, and cognitive development. The review distinguishes between evidence for experience-dependent neural adaptation and stronger causal claims that are not yet warranted. Research demonstrates that specific forms of digital engagement can improve visual selective attention, visuospatial processing, perceptual learning, and task-specific skills, especially in action video-game and structured learning contexts.