Scientists have figured out how gadgets change the structure of the child’s brain
The first large-scale official study in world history the impact of tablets and smartphones on children's brain held in the USA. The study is fully sponsored by the federal government (more than $ 300 million has been allocated for this purpose), its results should form the basis of new recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Researchers are engaged in the National Institutes of Health, it lasts for about 10 years. And now the first results are presented.
About 11 thousand children aged 9-11 years were examined.
A preliminary survey showed that most of them spend at least two hours a day in front of the screens of smartphones, tablets or computers, play video games, “roam” across the expanses of the Internet and communicate with friends on social networks.
MRI and EEG of the brain were made to each of the children. There are many results, and so far researchers have only been able to analyze the results of 4.5 thousand children participating in the experiment. The head of the research team, Gaia Dowling, said that The guys who spend at least 7 hours a day with gadgets and computers show signs of premature thinning of the cerebral cortex.
The outer layer of the brain performs important functions - it processes information received from the senses (eyes, ears, skin, nose), is responsible for memory and thinking.
In healthy people, not dependent on gadgets, a slight physiological thinning of the cortex occurs at the age after 19 years. This is the norm. The aging layer at 9 years old cannot be considered normal, physiologists and pediatricians say.
What consequences for a person can result in too early thinning of the cerebral cortex, while it is difficult to say - scientists need time to further observe the participants in the experiment.
In addition, it was found that the guys who spend with gadgets more than two hours a day, there is some lag in mental development: they are much worse able to cope with tests for speech development, thinking and logic.
Officially, the results of the study will be published in the world scientific media in early 2019. They are expected to be sensational: experts are confident that this study will help to change the current order of things: parents will listen and limit communication of children with gadgets, because The long-term effects of such children's hobbies can be disastrous..