New research from Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) reveals that children with greater screen time exposure before age two exhibited alterations in brain development associated with delayed decision-making and elevated anxiety during adolescence, heightening worries over early digital media use.

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	Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Study links excessive infant screen time to altered brain development and teen anxiety MacDailyNews Dec 30   READ IN APP   New research from Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) reveals that children with greater screen time exposure before age two exhibited alterations in brain development associated with delayed decision-making and elevated anxiety during adolescence, heightening worries over early digital media use. The research indicated that increased screen time in very young children correlated with “accelerated maturation of brain networks” involved in vision and cognitive control. The researchers suggested this may have been the result of “intense sensory stimulation that screens provide.” Hallie Gu for Bloomberg News: ‎ The study was conducted by a team within the country’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research and the National University of Singapore, and published in The Lancet’s eBioMedicine open access journal. It tracked 168 children for more than a decade, and conducted brain scans on them at three time points. They found that screen time measured at ages three and four, however, did not show the same effects. Those children with “altered brain networks” took longer to make decisions when they were 8.5, and also had higher anxiety symptoms at age 13, the study said. “These findings suggest that screen exposure in infancy may have effects that extend well beyond early childhood, shaping brain development and behavior years later,” the agency known as A*Star said in a press release on Tuesday. A separate study by the same team in 2024 suggested that parents could help counteract some of the brain changes in young children caused by passive screen time by reading to them frequently and engaging more with them in person. ‎ MacDailyNews Take: When asked in 2010 how his children liked Apple’s new iPad, Steve Jobs replied, “They haven’t used it. We limit how much technology our kids use at home.” ‎ Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you! Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon. The post Study links excessive infant screen time to altered brain development and teen anxiety appeared first on MacDailyNews. You're currently a free subscriber to MacDailyNews. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. Upgrade to paid   Like Comment Restack   © 2025 MacDailyNews 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 Unsubscribe