geoff@iconia.com
Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 16:13:57 -1000
Smartphones, tablets and video games are physically changing the brains of
adolescents, early results from an ongoing $300 million study funded by the
National Institute of Health have shown, according to a report by *60
Minutes*.
Scientists will follow more than 11,000 nine- to 10-year-olds for a decade to see how childhood experiences impact the brain and affect emotional development and mental health. The first bits of data suggest that the onslaught of tech screens has been transformative for young people -- and maybe not for the better.
In brain scans of 4,500 children, daily screen usage of more than seven hours showed premature thinning of the brain cortex, the outermost layer that processes information from the physical world. Though the difference was significant from participants who spent less screen time, NIH study director Gaya Dowling cautioned against drawing a conclusion. ``We don't know if it's being caused by the screen time. We don't know if it's a bad thing. It won't be until we follow them over time that we will see if there are outcomes that are associated with the differences that we're seeing in this single snapshot.'' (according to an advance script)
Early results from the study, called Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development
(ABCD), have determined that children who spend more than two hours of
daily screen time score lower on thinking and language tests. A major data
release is scheduled for early 2019...
https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/screen-time-changes-structure-of-kids-brains-60-minutes-says
YOU CAN VIEW the (~13 min) segment here:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/groundbreaking-study-examines-effects-of-screen-time-on-kids-60-minutes/58aa54508d65e455307%7C40779d3379c44626b8bf140c4d5e9075%7C1