🤳 The use of screens has proven to be a factor that affects multiple areas of brain development, which is why this article will provide valuable information related to how screen time can impact neuropsychological functions, including learning.

🤓 Firstly, screen time is understood as the time a person (baby, child, teenager, and adult) can spend on electronic devices, such as televisions, cell phones, or tablets. Scientific evidence has found that indiscriminate use of screens can negatively affect the following areas:

  • ✅ Screen use has positively correlated with attention problems, to the point that symptoms may resemble those of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) (Christakis et al., 2004; Small et al., 2022).
  • ✅ Before 18 months, the brain has not reached sufficient maturity to understand that the symbols on the screen have an equivalent in the real world (Hill, 2016).
  • ✅ Excessive screen use can alter vision, sleep, body weight, language, executive functions, social skills, and behavior (Rodríguez and Estrada, 2021). Similarly, it is a risk factor for cases of obesity, sedentary lifestyle, eating problems, and general psychological well-being.

We cannot deny that excessive screen use is considered a risk factor for certain behavioral patterns that can progressively affect people's quality of life. Some of these factors are:

  • ☑️ Increase in sedentary behavior: Sedentary behavior is a lifestyle habit that affects the physical, cognitive, and mental health of individuals. From a neuropsychological perspective, studies like that of Zavala et al. (2020) indicate that sedentary behaviors negatively affected the volume of gray matter in various parts of the brain concerning children with overweight or obesity.
  • ☑️ Regarding neurodevelopment, early and prolonged exposure to screens is associated with a higher risk of psychiatric symptoms, particularly attention problems, hyperactivity, anxiety disorders, and depression (Maras et al. 2015; Yen et al. 2009).
  • ☑️ Screen time and sleep: Poor sleep quality is associated with decreased gray matter volume, lower memory efficiency, and increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s. We must not overlook the impact that blue light at night has on the child’s brain compared to the adult brain, as this light affects melatonin levels, the hormone responsible for regulating the sleep-wake cycle.

✋🏻 It is important that as caregivers, we consider good practices that help minimize screen time in infants. Some of these recommendations are:

  • 🧠 It is important to engage in activities that involve social interaction between caregiver and child. This helps promote the development of linguistic, cognitive, motor, and socio-emotional skills.
  • 🧠 It is essential, from an early age, to teach limits and rules regarding screen use (Rodríguez and Estrada, 2021). An example of this would be to promote family habits related to screen-free time, such as eating together as a family without the use of any electronic devices.
  • 🧠 It is valuable to psychoeducate caregivers about alternative entertainment methods that help their children develop skills. For example, sports, board games, extracurricular activities, social interaction spaces, and visits to tourist sites can be excellent alternatives to minimize screen time in children and teenagers.
  • 🧠 We cannot deny the educational and cognitive benefits that screens can provide for children and teenagers; however, it is important to keep in mind that what determines that touch screens are an effective educational tool is the quality of interaction between caregiver and baby, not just the quality of screen use (Zack and Barr, 2016). For this reason, we must remember that using a screen will never replace the interaction and warmth of human interaction.

⚡️ Remember, dear reader, that screen use can affect cognitive, neuropsychological, social, and communicative areas. If you have questions regarding development, remember to consult specialists, where the specialty of neuropsychology plays an important role, as neuropsychological evaluations can provide a cognitive profile that allows us to understand how the infant or adolescent is doing in processes of attention, memory, executive functions, neuropsychological maturity, intelligence, behavior, emotion, and perceptual processes in general. For more information, remember to contact me at +507 6535 6362, and I will be happy to assist you.

📚 References

  • Christakis, D. A., Zimmerman, F. J., Di Giuseppe, D. L., and McCarty, C. A. (2004). Early television exposure and subsequent attentional problems in children. Pediatrics, 113(4), 708-13.
  • Hill, D. L. (October 28, 2016). Why to avoid letting babies and toddlers watch television. Healthychildren.org
  • Rodríguez Sas, O., & Estrada, L. C. (2021). Incidence of screen use in children under 2 years. Revista De Psicología, 086. https://doi.org/10.24215/2422572Xe086
  • Small, G. W., Lee, J., Kaufman, A., Jalil, J., Siddarth, P., Gaddipati, H., ... & Bookheimer, S. Y. (2022). Brain health consequences of digital technology use. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience.
  • Zack, E., & Barr, R. (2016). The role of interactional quality in learning from touch screens during infancy: Context matters. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1264.
  • Zavala-Crichton, J. P., Esteban-Cornejo, I., Solis-Urra, P., Mora-Gonzalez, J., Cadenas-Sanchez, C., Rodriguez-Ayllon, M., ... & Ortega, F. B. (2020). Association of sedentary behavior with brain structure and intelligence in children with overweight or obesity: The ActiveBrains project. Journal of clinical medicine, 9(4), 1101.