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Screen media activity and brain structure in youth: Evidence for diverse structural correlation networks from the ABCD study
Open accessAbstract
The adolescent brain undergoes profound structural changes which is influenced by many factors. Screen media activity (SMA; e.g., watching television or videos, playing video games, or using social media) is a common recreational activity in children and adolescents; however, its effect on brain structure is not well understood. A multivariate approach with the first cross-sectional data release from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study was used to test the maturational coupling hypothesis, i.e. the notion that coordinated patterns of structural change related to specific behaviors. Moreover, the utility of this approach was tested by determining the association between these structural correlation networks and psychopathology or cognition. ABCD participants with usable structural imaging and SMA data (N = 4277 of 4524) were subjected to a Group Factor Analysis (GFA) to identify latent variables that relate SMA to cortical thickness, sulcal depth, and gray matter volume. Subject scores from these latent variables were used in generalized linear mixed-effect models to investigate associations between SMA and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, as well as fluid and crystalized intelligence. Four SMA-related GFAs explained 37% of the variance between SMA and structural brain indices. SMA-related GFAs correlated with brain areas that support homologous functions. Some but not all SMA-related factors corresponded with higher externalizing (Cohen's d effect size (ES) 0.06-0.1) but not internalizing psychopathology and lower crystalized (ES: 0.08-0.1) and fluid intelligence (ES: 0.04-0.09). Taken together, these findings support the notion of SMA related maturational coupling or structural correlation networks in the brain and provides evidence that individual differences of these networks have mixed consequences for psychopathology and cognitive performance.
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“Research has also shown that greater screen time in children is associated with lower cortical thickness, particularly in areas associated with language and literacy skills (Paulus et al., 2019).”
From The impact of digital technology, social media, and artificial intelligence on cognitive functions: a review (2023) · cites this paper as Paulus et al., 2019
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Second, results showed a strong association between screen time, externalizing (but not internalizing) psychopathology, and changes in cortical and limbic structures (e.g., smaller orbitofrontal volume, thinner occipital and temporal cortices, thinner hippocampi) [33]”
From Digital dementia in the internet generation: excessive screen time during brain development will increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in adulthood (2022) · cites this paper as [33]
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In the citing paper
“Changes in these cortical networks are thought to be influenced by early environmental experiences, including childhood abuse [83], urban upbringing [84], and screen time [33], and may have serious lifetime impacts on general cognitive ability, social-emotional behaviour, psychopathology, and substance use and abuse.”
From Digital dementia in the internet generation: excessive screen time during brain development will increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in adulthood (2022) · cites this paper as [33]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn the citing paper
“which may negatively affect the functioning of other cortical networks, such as cognitive control regions, that interact with sensorimotor areas [33].”
In the citing paper
“In contrast, for crystallized intelligence, screen time in general and social media activity showed strong negative associations with occipital and orbitofrontal volume [33].”
In the citing paper
“The study identified several associations between screen time, brain structure (e.g., cortical thickness, gray matter volume, and sulcal depth), and cognition (e.g., fluid and crystallized intelligence) and mental health (e.g., internalizing and externalizing psychopathologies) [33].”
In the citing paper
“Preliminary data from The Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a multi-site longitudinal neuroimaging study, shows the significant impact that screen time has on the relationship between cognitive-behavioural maturational markers and normal patterns of brain development in children and adolescents [33,85].”
In the citing paper
“First, results showed a robust association between screen time and changes in visual system structural patterns (i.e., reduced volume, thinner cortex, variations in sulcal depth)”
In the citing paper
“For fluid intelligence, gaming activity showed positive associations with prefrontal cortex thinning, whereas social media activity showed negative associations with hippocampal thickness and temporal lobe volume [33].”
In the citing paper
“Total screen time was calculated separately for weekdays and weekend days, based on a previously validated measure [93–95].”
From Screen time and mental health: a prospective analysis of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (2024) · cites this paper as [95]
In the citing paper
“Research so far shows mixed consequences of screen time on cognitive abilities related to intelligence10–13.”
From The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence while controlling for genetic differences in cognition and socioeconomic background (2022) · cites this paper as [11]
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Citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Hutton, J. S., Dudley, J., Horowitz-Kraus, T., DeWitt, T., & Holland, S. K. (2020) · JAMA Pediatrics · doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.3869 · Cited by 460
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Wacks, Y., & Weinstein, A. M. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.669042 · Cited by 424
“Furthermore, a large study of 4,277 adolescents has shown a negative correlation between screen media activity and cortical thickness in fMRI implying premature aging of the brain (97).”
BackgroundThe ABCD study: understanding the development of risk for mental and physical health outcomes
Karcher, N. R., & Barch, D. M. (2021) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/s41386-020-0736-6 · Cited by 351
The associations between screen time and mental health in adolescents: a systematic review
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Shanmugasundaram, M., & Tamilarasu, A. (2023) · Frontiers in Cognition · doi:10.3389/fcogn.2023.1203077 · Cited by 291
Metadata
- Authors
- Paulus, M. P., Squeglia, L. M., Bagot, K., Jacobus, J., Kuplicki, R., Breslin, F. J., Bodurka, J., Morris, A. S., Thompson, W. K., Bartsch, H., & Tapert, S. F.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Medical University of South Carolina (US)
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research (US)
- Oklahoma State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Paulus, Martin P.
- ORCID
- Venue
- NeuroImage
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-01
- Volume
- 185
- Pages
- 140-153
- ISSN
- 1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6487868
- OpenAlex
- W2897654119
- Cited by
- 254
- References
- 72
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 95 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 8
- FWCI
- 33.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (U01DA041022, U01DA041025, U01DA041028, U01DA041048, U01DA041089, U01DA041093, U01DA041106, U01DA041117, U01DA041120, U01DA041134, U01DA041148, U01DA041156, U01DA041174, U24DA041123, U24DA041147)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- adolescent brain development, video games, social media use, television viewing, cortical thickness, sulcal depth, gray matter volume, internalizing psychopathology, externalizing psychopathology, fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study
- MeSH terms
- Screen Time, Adolescent, Mental Disorders, Brain, Child, Cognition, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted, Individuality, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Nerve Net, Adolescent Development
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