Screen time found to affect children's brain physically, functionally, say researchers

New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) Screen time leads to physical and functional changes in the brains of children under 12 years of age, impacting their development, scientists have found after reviewing 33 brain imaging studies spanning 23 years and involving 30,000 participants.

Screen time, referring to the time children spend watching television or playing computer games, was found to impact the development of executive functions of brain such as working memory, planning and responding flexibly to changing situations by making structural changes in the pre-frontal cortex, the scientists found.

Further, the children's ability to process sensory information such as touch, pressure, heat, cold, and pain was also affected through changes in their parietal lobes, the researchers from Hong Kong, China and Australia found.