Screen Use Tied to Children's Brain Development.

[elleng]

'In a study, preschoolers who used screens less had better language skills.

A new study using sophisticated brain scans found an association between screen use and the development of young children’s brains, especially in areas related to language development, reinforcing the messages about minimizing screen time for preschoolers. . .

The researchers did special brain scans, diffusion tensor M.R.I.s, which assess the integrity of the white matter in the brain, on 47 healthy children ages 3 to 5, all from English-speaking households, mostly middle- to upper-middle class. . .

Then the researchers compared the children’s ScreenQs to their brain scans, which showed the degree of myelination of the neurons, the coating of the connections between nerve cells with a fatty substance — myelin — which is what makes white matter white. It insulates the nerve cells and increases the efficiency of signaling.

“The more these areas are encouraged to talk to one another, whether language areas or executive function, the more that coating of the wires is stimulated,” Dr. Hutton said. “The amount of myelin around a nerve fiber is directly related to how often it’s stimulated, how often it’s used.”

Children reach developmental milestones when the relevant tracts in their brain are myelinated, he said; the language “explosion” at 18 months, for example. When the connection is fully myelinated between the part of the brain known as Wernicke’s area (comprehension of words) and Broca’s (production of speech), children go from understanding words to being able to say them. “The adage from neuroscience is the neurons that fire together wire together,” Dr. Hutton said. “Practice doing anything reinforces connections.” . .

“This is the first study to document an association between higher screen time and brain structure and related skills,” Dr. Hutton said.

It is a cross-sectional study — a snapshot of these developing brains at one moment in time — and therefore by definition shows association, not causation. If there is a direct link, it may have less to do with the screens themselves, and more with what the screen time may be replacing in children’s lives.

“I would also strongly emphasize the issue of readiness,” Dr. Hutton wrote in an email. “Not so much ‘screens are bad,’ but ‘screens are not such a good idea right now.’ Akin to driving a car not bad, but driving at age 3-5 not such a good idea.” Tablets in particular, he wrote, may be “so powerful and encompassing, that they may not belong in the hands of infants-toddlers-preschoolers.”'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/04/well/family/screen-use-tied-to-childrens-brain-development.html?

[exboyfil]

1. This is in line with an old Scientific American

article https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-screens/

My kids kept journals whenever we traveled and we have a house full of books. They both probably do too much screen time now (just like me), but they have well developed language skills. I see my young nieces and nephews glued to tablets. They were using tablets at least at age five (actually before I was regularly using one).