- Researchers tracked 168 children for more than a decade using the GUSTO cohort in Singapore
- Higher screen time before age 2 was linked with faster maturation of brain networks involved in vision and cognitive control
- These brain differences were linked with slower decision making at age 8 and a half and higher anxiety symptoms by age 13
The study focused on infancy because the brain is developing rapidly at that stage and may be more sensitive to environmental influences.
Screen exposure in very young children is also largely shaped by adult choices at home, which makes it a period where guidance may be possible.
The research team, led by Asst Prof Tan Ai Peng and colleagues from A STAR and the National University of Singapore, used data from the Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes cohort.
The researchers followed 168 children and carried out brain scans at three points during childhood: around ages 4 and a half, 6 and 7 and a half.
This let them look at how brain networks changed over time rather than relying on one scan at one age.
They compared children with higher levels of screen exposure in infancy with those who had less, then looked at later outcomes including performance on a thinking task and anxiety symptoms in early adolescence.
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What changes were seen in the brain
Children with higher infant screen time showed earlier maturation of brain networks linked to visual processing and cognitive control.
The researchers suggested that intense, highly stimulating screen content may play a role, although the study was not designed to prove cause and effect.
One notable detail was timing. Screen time measured later, around ages 3 and 4, did not show the same pattern, which supported the idea that infancy may be a uniquely sensitive window.
How this related to thinking and anxiety later on
The study reported that children with the altered brain network patterns took longer to make decisions during a cognitive task at age 8 and a half.
Slower decision making was then linked with higher anxiety symptoms reported at age 13.
Taken together, the findings suggested a possible pathway from screen exposure very early in life to later differences in brain development, thinking efficiency and emotional wellbeing.
Parent child reading and interactive time
The same research group has also reported that shared reading may soften some of the links between early screen time and brain network changes.
They suggested that reading together provides an interactive, back and forth experience with language and emotional connection that passive screen use does not.
The researchers presented this as a practical lever for families, alongside limiting screen exposure in the earliest years.
