By Shawn Smith
The saying, “Don’t sit in front of the TV all day. It will rot your brain,” might not be the overdramatic statement as people once thought it was.
A recent study out of Japan reporting the link between screen time and brain development seems to support the claim.
The US-based Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study tracked 11,878 children over two years, while researchers out of the University of Fukui analyzed the findings.
Using MRI scans, the results showed that children with higher screen-time usage exhibited overall lower brain volume and “reduced volume in the right putamen, a brain region involved in language learning, reward processing, and addiction-related behaviors,” Inc. magazine reported.
Development of the left brain involved with memory, language and attention were also affected.
“In other words, excessive screen exposure may contribute to a pattern of delayed brain maturation that’s often observed in children with ADHD,” Bill Murphy Jr. wrote in the Inc. article.
Related: Is it Really That Bad if Kids Have Screen Time?
“The results provide some neuroscientific evidences for the need to control screen time,” Masatoshi Yamashita, the study author, wrote.
Though the study is alarming, the article points out limitations.
One, the researchers said that the study’s results that link ADHD and screen time could be “marginal” and “should be interpreted with caution.”
Another issue is that of causality, as Murphy points out, “It’s possible that kids predisposed to ADHD symptoms are simply drawn to more screen time, rather than screen time causing the symptoms.”
The author points out that the age of the subjects, 9 to 10 years old at the start of the study, and the two-year span of the research can’t account for if the effects of screen time “persist into adolescence or adulthood, or if they’re reversible with reduced screen time.”
Pulling from the ABCD study, researchers published in the “Pediatrics” journal that their analysis of the study found that the children who had smartphones by age 12 or younger had higher instances of depression and insufficient sleep. Their research also found that those who owned smartphones at a younger age had higher insistences of obesity than those who who received smartphones at a later age.
The lead researcher in the study and child psychiatrist Ran Barzilay said that while smartphones “can play a constructive role” in teens’ lives, and that it is inevitable that most of them will eventually have one, when that happens, it is vital for parents to guide their kids in wise phone usage.
“[I]t is advisable to monitor what our children do on their phones, ensuring they’re not exposed to inappropriate content and that smartphones don’t disrupt sleep,” he added.
Other studies show a correlation between a specific type of screen time, short-form video, and negative cognitive effects.
A study published in “Psychological Bulletin” also found a link between those who consume higher amounts of short-form videos than those who do not have a larger rate of depression and anxiety.
As with the previous mentioned studies, there is still much nuance, such as questions of causality, and it “may be too early to claim universal doom,” as pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Nidhi Gupta said. However researchers’ concerns still hold weight.
“The research for alcohol, cigarettes and drugs took 75 years or more to develop,” Dr. Gupta said. “But I would be surprised if, in the next five to 10 years, we do not have similar signs validating the moral panic that we have around short-form videos.”
Maybe we don’t have to “kill the babysitter” but definitely give a cut in hours.
Read Next: They Said TV Was ‘Rotting Kids’ Brains.’ Then Came Smartphones.
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