Transcription
What they found on these kids' MRI scans should really start to piss you off.
The National Institutes of Health launched the largest study of childhood brain development ever run in the entire country. Study tracked 11,878 kids across 21 sites. Each child was placed in MRI machines and allowed to scroll and watch screens and just let the brain stuff do the brain stuff. And the results even shocked the researchers.
Kids with 7 or more hours of daily screen time showed premature thinning of the cortex. That's the brain's outer layer that runs the thinking, the memory, the language, including the putamen, which is the reward center, and the prefrontal cortex, which handles impulse control.
See, the same thing that makes a young brain vulnerable is the thing that lets it heal. It's still forming until age 25. Dopamine receptors can reset in about 90 days. So, as quickly as developing a brain can be damaged by screens, it can heal.
You don't need to throw away your iPad. Just cap it at 2 hours. The data is clear. We're all in danger, not just kids. Share this with every parent you know. I'm Drew Canole, we're in this together.