‘Uncontrolled Experiment’: How Smart Devices Are Damaging Kids’ Brains

‘Uncontrolled Experiment’: How Smart Devices Are Damaging Kids’ Brains

Posted on July 7, 2023

By  Dr. Joseph Mercola
As little as two hours of screen time per day can impair a child’s thinking and language skills, interfere with sleep, and increase anxiety and depression.
Story at a glance:

• Children ages 9 to 10 who use electronic devices for seven hours or more per day exhibit premature thinning of the brain cortex, the outer brain layer that processes information from the five physical senses.
  
• As little as two hours of screen time per day may impact cognition, resulting in lower scores on thinking and language tests.
  
• Infants under the age of 2 do not effectively learn language from videos; they need live interaction.
  
• Babies do not transfer what they learn from the iPad to the real world. For example, the ability to play with virtual Legos does not transfer over to the skill of manipulating real Lego blocks.
  
• Apps and social media are designed to be addictive, and young children are far more susceptible to addiction than adults.
  

Most people today live in a sea of radio frequencies emitted from wireless technologies of all kinds, from routers to smartphones, tablets, baby monitors, TVs, appliances, smart meters and many more.
According to many experts, chronic, heavy exposure could have severe repercussions for our health, especially that of children, who are now exposed even before birth.
Research also suggests interaction with social media, games and apps online produces a number of effects, both physical and psychological.
Heavy use of wireless devices changes kids’ brain structure
In the largest long-term study of brain development and youth health in the U.S., the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, reveals the brains of the most [url=https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/screen-time-changes-structure-of-kids-brains-60-minutes-says-1.1180613#:~:text=Dec 9%2C 2018-,Screen Time Changes Structure of,Brains%2C '60 Minutes']prolific users of electronic devices[/url] look different compared to those who use smartphones, tablets and video games less frequently.
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These preliminary findings, based on the brain scans of 4,500 9- to 10-year-olds, reveal children who use electronic devices for seven hours or more each day have premature thinning of the brain cortex, the outer brain layer that processes information from the five physical senses (taste, touch, sight, smell and sound).
The exact ramifications of this anomaly are still unknown.
According to Dr. Gaya Dowling, a researcher with the National Institutes of Health, which is sponsoring the $300 million study, thinning of the cortex is thought to be part of the brain maturation process, so what these scans are showing is that this process is being sped up in children who get a lot of screen time (7-plus hours a day).
They cannot prove that the changes are definitively caused by screen time, and the full effects won’t be known until years from now, as the emotional and mental health outcomes of these children are evaluated.
Still, preliminary results suggest as little as two hours of screen time per day may impact cognition, resulting in lower scores on thinking and language tests.
American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for screen time
The “Growing Up Digital” report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), published in October 2015 . . .  cites data from research showing infants under the age of 1 do not effectively learn language from videos, whereas they do learn language from live interactions. Up to age 2, live presentations are far superior for language processing and learning compared to video presentations.
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This is also noted in the “60 Minutes” report (see video below).




Research shows that babies do not transfer what they learn from the iPad to the real world, or from two-dimensional interaction to three-dimensional reality. For example, the ability to play with virtual Legos does not transfer over to the skill of manipulating real Lego blocks.
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Digital media are designed to be addictive
While the AAP’s guidelines may be based on what seems to be a common sense of good parenting, the reality is that many parents have just as much trouble moderating their usage as their children.
What’s worse, young children, especially those under the age of 2, are far more susceptible to addictive behavior than older children and adults.
The fact that apps and social media are designed to be addictive adds to the challenge.
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In the video below, Harris describes the process, known in programming circles as “brain hacking,” as they incorporate knowledge of neuropsychology into the development of digital interfaces that boost interaction.
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The research discussed in the featured 60 Minute segment reveals that addiction to smartphones and social media is indeed a reality, triggering the release of dopamine — a neurochemical involved in cravings and desire that promotes impulsive and compulsive behavior.
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Screen time linked to sleep deprivation
The radiation alone is a significant hazard and is known to disrupt sleep, but the blue light from the screen, plus the beeping and pinging when messages and other notifications come in are bound to interrupt sleep as well.
This does not even factor in the influence of microwave radiation from cellphones influencing melatonin, which regulates your sleep-wake cycle.
When your melatonin production is disrupted, it can have long-term health effects, as shown in a 2013 animal study, which assessed the effects of cellphone radiation on the central nervous system.
Exposure to cellphone radiation for just one hour a day for one month caused rats to experience a period of delay before entering rapid eye movement deep sleep — a phase necessary for restorative sleep.
Another study published in 2015 found that 1.8 GHz frequencies affected rats’ circadian rhythm and decreased their daily production of melatonin. Superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase (which help prevent cellular damage) were also decreased.
Low melatonin is used as a marker for disturbed sleep. It comes as no great surprise then that sleep deprivation among teenagers rose by 57% between 1991 and 2015.
Many do not even get seven hours of sleep on a regular basis, while science reveals they need a minimum of eight and as many as 10 hours to maintain their health.
The research clearly shows that heavy computer and cellphone users are more prone to insomnia. For example, one 2008 study revealed that people exposed to radiation from their mobile phones for three hours before bedtime had more trouble falling asleep and staying in a deep sleep.
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Data from the annual Monitoring the Future survey reveals the more time teens spend online, the unhappier they are, and those who spend more time than average on in-person relations and activities that do not involve their smartphone are far more likely to report being “happy.”
Results such as these really should come as no surprise. Spending time outdoors has been scientifically shown to dramatically improve people’s moods and significantly reduce symptoms of depression.
Interestingly, it doesn’t matter what type of screen activity is involved. They’re all equally likely to cause psychological distress.
Between 2012 and 2015, depressive symptoms among boys rose by 21%. Among girls, the rise during that same time was a whopping 50% — a truly remarkable increase in just three years’ time.
Rates of teen depression, self-harm and suicide have also dramatically risen.
Emergency room visits for self-harming behavior such as cutting have tripled among girls ages 10 to 14, and data suggest spending three hours or more each day on electronic devices raises a teen’s suicide risk by 35%.
Between 2007 and 2015, the suicide rate for 12- to 14-year-old girls rose threefold — a gender trend that can in part be blamed on a rise in cyberbullying, which is more common among girls. The suicide rate among boys doubled in that same time frame.
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How electronics trigger anxiety, depression, memory problems
Aside from purely psychological factors, one of the reasons why social media use tends to raise a child’s risk for anxiety and depression has to do with the fact that smartphones emit electromagnetic fields (EMFs).
Research by professor Martin Pall, Ph.D., reveals EMFs activate voltage-gated calcium channels embedded in your cell membranes. This releases a flood of calcium ions which, through a cascade of effects, result in the creation of hydroxyl free radicals — some of the most destructive free radicals known to man.
In turn, this decimates mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, their membranes and proteins, ultimately resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction.
Your brain has the highest density of voltage-gated calcium channels in your body, which is why excessive EMF exposure is associated with depression and neurological dysfunction, including dementia.
According to Nicholas Carr, author of the book, “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains,” millennials are experiencing greater problems with forgetfulness than seniors.
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Via https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/smart-devices-kids-brains-cola/

THANKS TO: https://stuartbramhall.wordpress.com/2023/07/07/uncontrolled-experiment-how-smart-devices-are-damaging-kids-brains/