The Neuro Platform

Glowing screens have become just as, if not more common than actual sunshine and vitamin D in children’s lives. From educational tablets provided to kids in primary school, to every single person being glued to the latest iPhone in secondary school, digital devices are reshaping how young minds develop. In this post we’ll dive into what neuroscientific research actually tells us about screen time and the developing brain.

The Developing Brain

Children’s brains are in constant construction mode. Even from before birth, and well into the mid-twenties, our brains continue maturing, with different neural pathways forming, and synapses strengthening or getting pruned off. This idea of neuroplasticity is a fascinating subject that makes children’s minds incredibly capable of learning, but also extremely vulnerable to environmental influences, such as exposure to screens.

The ABCD Study

Much of our understanding around this subject comes from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. This is the largest long-term study of brain development in the USA. This study follows over 10,000 children from ages 9-10 into early adulthood, and uses advanced brain imaging to track how screen time influences neural development. The findings are quite concerning, and may just encourage you to keep your children off screens altogether. Children with higher screen usage showed widespread reduction of both cortical and gray matter volume (Paulus et al., 2021). This reduction has been seen with patients who have different psychopathologies, so shows how increased screen time can be detrimental in the long run. These children have also demonstrated heightened reward-seeking behavior, potentially making them more susceptible to addictive behaviours.

The Critical Years

The current research is particularly alarming for very young children. Studies show that background television exposure has an extremely negative effect on infants and their language development (Yang et al., 2024). Recent neuroimaging research has found that high screen time affects brain structure in children as young as three, particularly in areas related to language development and reading skills (Hutton et al., 2024).

Health organizations now recommend avoiding screen time entirely for children under 3 because excessive exposure can cause harmful changes in the brain’s white matter, the tissue that connects different brain regions and enables efficient communication.

White Matter: The Brain’s Information Highway

One of the most significant discoveries involves white matter damage. Studies using advanced brain imaging found that children with higher screen time show altered white matter integrity, especially in pathways essential for language and literacy skills. These changes correlate with lower performance on cognitive tests, suggesting that excessive screen time during critical developmental periods may have lasting academic consequences.

The ABCD study also revealed what researchers call a “trade-off” between screen time and cognitive development. Children with higher screen time showed consistent associations with worse mental health, increased behavioral problems, decreased academic performance, and poorer sleep quality (Nagata et al., 2021). Sleep disruption is an extremely negative effect of heightened screen time. Blue light from screens have been shown to suppress melatonin, the sleepy hormone, production, making it harder for kids to fall asleep. The stimulating, interactive nature of digital activities keeps young minds activated when they should be winding down for rest. Sleep is crucial for brain development, it’s when the brain consolidates memories, clears metabolic waste, and strengthens neural connections. When screen time disrupts sleep, it creates cascading effects on learning, emotional regulation, and overall brain health.

However, amongst all these negative findings there was one positive: children with more screen time reported higher quality peer relationships, suggesting digital communication offers some social benefits even if it impacts other developmental areas.

A Balanced Perspective

The research raises legitimate concerns, but complete screen avoidance isn’t practical or beneficial for children who need digital literacy skills. Especially in this day and age, the goal should just be to be more thoughtful and intentional when using digital devices. We should aim to focus on:

• Prioritising real-world experiences and interactions
• Choosing high-quality, age-appropriate content
• Engaging with children during screen time
• Maintaining consistent sleep and activity routines
• Modelling healthy technology use as adults

The bottom line is that the developing brain is remarkably adaptable but sensitive to environmental influences. As we follow the ABCD study that continues to follow participants long-term, the research doesn’t seem to suggest that all screen time is harmful, more so that the way it is used and when matters a lot. Understanding how best to utilise digital technology is essential for raising healthy children, especially in an age where technology is taking the world by storm.

The choices we make about screen time today will literally shape the brains of tomorrow. Now that’s a responsibility worth taking seriously.

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References:

1. Hutton, J. S., Dudley, J., Horowitz-Kraus, T., DeWitt, T., & Holland, S. K. (2024). Association of screen time use and language development in early childhood. JAMA Pediatrics, 178(2), 142-149.
2. Nagata, J. M., Cortez, C. A., Cattle, C. J., Ganson, K. T., Iyer, P., Bibbins-Domingo, K., & Baker, F. C. (2021). Screen time use among US adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. JAMA Pediatrics, 176(1), 94-96.
3. Paulus, M. P., Squeglia, L. M., Bagot, K., Jacobus, J., Kuplicki, R., Breslin, F. J., … & Bartsch, H. (2021). Screen media activity and brain structure in youth: Evidence for diverse structural correlation networks from the ABCD study. NeuroImage, 185, 140-153.
4. Yang, G. S., Nagata, J. M., Ganson, K. T., Livestock, C., Testa, A., Jackson, D. B., & Piquero, A. R. (2024). Screen time and mental health: a prospective analysis of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. BMC Public Health, 24, 2645.