An American study shows that the overexposure of children to screens would modify their brain. Preliminary findings that must be confirmed by concrete results expected in early 2019.
Screens have invaded our daily lives and our children are no exception. Smartphone, tablet, computer… the machines capture their attention but with far from harmless consequences. A study has shown that spending seven hours a day in front of a screen for young people aged 2 to 17 increases the risk of depression and anxiety. At the end of October, in a preventive approach, Agnès Buzyn, Minister of Health, wanted to react and advised against screens for children under three years old.
Same brain process observed as for aging
The American Institutes of Health (NIH) have launched a large study to find out more about the real impact of prolonged exposure to screens on children’s brains. The preliminary results of this survey, presented during the60 Minutes broadcast on the American channel CBS, show that children who spend more than two hours a day in front of a screen score less well on language and thinking tests than the others. This study was conducted on 4,500 children aged 9 to 10 and distributed in 21 research centers across the United States.
Initial MRI tests have shown a difference in the brains of those most exposed to screens, namely those who remain stuck for more than 7 hours a day. The MRI notably revealed a premature thinning of the cortex, the cerebral bark which processes the information sent to the brain by the five senses. A modification normally “considered as an aging process”, explained doctor Gaya Dowling, who works on the project. She stressed that she was not sure that it was harmful.
In front of screens, children secrete dopamine
“We don’t know if it has anything to do with screen time and we don’t know if it’s a bad thing,” said Dr. Gaya Dowling, who is working on the project. “What we can say is that this is what the brains of children look like when they spend a lot of time staring at a screen.”
Another scientist, Doctor Kara Bagot, observed a stimulation of dopamine, the pleasure hormone, in the brain of a child while looking at a screen. A result obtained by the scan of the brain of a teenager while he consults his Instagram feed. “There is therefore a greater chance of acting impulsively and using social networks compulsively than, for example, taking care of yourself,” she explains.
First concrete results in 2019
To have the final results of this study, it is necessary to wait until the first publications planned for the beginning of 2019. The objective for the researchers is to know if the time spent on the screens is responsible for the modification of the brain of the children, or if it is this difference that drives them to spend time in front of screens. For this study, the NIH decided to follow 11,000 children for several years to measure the impact of screens on their intellectual and social development as well as on their health.
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