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A lot Screen time for young children is Link to anxiety According to a new study, they are in their teens.
As technology has advanced over the past few decades, more and more children are exposed to television, computer and tablet screens. While some may view screens as a hack for unruly children and overwhelmed parents, there are concerns about the impact these devices may have on children’s development.
Researchers are at Singapore Researchers followed 168 children for more than a decade, conducting brain scans at ages 4 and a half, 6 and 7 and a half years old to determine the developmental effects of prolonged screen exposure.
The study was published in The Lancet electronic biomedicine Monday’s issue found that children who are exposed to more screen time experience accelerated maturation of brain networks that handle visual processing and cognitive control.
While this may not sound like a bad thing, Dr. Pei Huang, one of the study’s authors, explains how this can actually lead to your child having difficulty adjusting to life as they age.
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“Accelerated maturation often occurs in response to adversity or other stimuli when certain brain networks develop too quickly,” Huang said in a report. Press release From the Singapore Government. “During normal development, brain networks gradually become more specialized over time.
“However, in children who are frequently exposed to screens, the networks that control vision and cognition specialize more quickly before they develop the efficient connections needed for complex thinking. This limits flexibility and resilience, making children less adaptable later in life.”
Children in the study with altered brain networks took longer to make decisions in cognitive tasks at age 8 and a half and later reported higher anxiety symptoms at age 13.
Related research published by Cambridge University Press psychological medicine The February 2024 issue of the journal found that screen time in young children is also associated with changes in brain networks that handle emotion regulation, and that parents regularly reading to their children may counteract some of these changes.
“This study gives us a biological explanation for why limiting screen time in the first two years is critical,” said Assistant Professor Aipeng Tan, the study’s senior author, in a press release. “But it also highlights the importance of parental involvement, showing that parent-child activities, like reading together, can have a real impact.”