Too much screen time changes children's brains, study from Cincinnati Children's finds
Too much screen time changes
children's brains, study from Cincinnati Children's finds
Young
children who get more screen time than doctors recommend have differences in
parts of the brain that support language and self-regulation, a study at
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center has found.
It's not clear how the changes affect a child's development, the
researchers said.
The study put 47 healthy Cincinnati-area children between 3 and
5 through magnetic resonance imaging of their brains as well as cognitive
testing. While the study did not learn how screen time changed the brains, it
did show that skills such as brain processing speed were affected.
“Screen-based media use is prevalent and increasing in homes,
childcare and school settings at ever younger ages,” said Dr. John Hutton, the
author of the study and director of the Reading
& Literacy Discovery Center at Cincinnati Children’s
Hospital.
“These findings highlight the need to understand effects of
screen time on the brain, particularly during stages of dynamic brain
development in early childhood, so that providers, policymakers and parents can
set healthy limits,” he said.
The Cincinnati Children’s study was published in the journal JAMA
Pediatrics and follows a string of studies released this
year on the effects of screen time on the youngest humans.
A Canadian study published in April found that screen time can
affect attention
spans in preschoolers. A March study found that mobile phone
use can delay
expressive language in 18-month-olds. Another JAMA Pediatrics
study in April found that screen time can affect how a child performs
on developmental testing.
A study at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center shows
that young children who use screen media more than the recommended amounts have
changes in the white matter of the brain, which affects language and
self-regulation. This brain image shows white matter tracts with lower
structural integrity associated with more screen time in these children.
Affected areas are in blue.
The Cincinnati Children’s study assessed screen time using the
recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The
academy suggests, for example, that children younger than 18 months should
avoid all screen media other than video chatting. Parents should monitor
digital media and watch it with their children
For children between 2 to 5, the AAP recommends limiting screen
time to an hour a day. Parents should designate media-free times, such as
dinner or driving, as well as media-free locations at home, such as bedrooms
The children in the Cincinnati study completed standard cognitive
tests and a special test called diffusion tensor MRI, which estimates white
matter integrity in the brain.
Researchers gave the parents in the study a 15-item screening
tool based on the AAP's media recommendations. Those scores were matched to the
cognitive test scores and the MRI measures, controlling for age, gender and
household income.
Higher
scores on the screening tool were significantly associated with lower
expressive language, the ability to rapidly name objects or processing speed
and early reading skills, the study found.
In addition, higher scores also were associated with lower brain
white matter integrity, which affects organization, and myelination – the
process of forming a myelin sheath around a nerve to allow impulses to move
more quickly, in tracts involving language executive function and other
literacy skills.
Hutton said, “While we can’t yet determine whether screen time
causes these structural changes or implies long-term neurodevelopmental risks,
these findings warrant further study to understand what they mean and how to
set appropriate limits on technology use.”
Hutton said his team has several follow-up papers in the works
including a study showing the beneficial links between home reading practices
and brain development in preschool-age children. The work builds on five other
studies Hutton’s team has published since 2015 to link home reading to brain
development before kindergarten.
Hutton said he wants to do a bigger study starting in infancy,
but that will depend on getting the funding for the research.
The Cincinnati Children's
Research Foundation funded the study with a Procter Scholar Award.
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