Neuroscientist on the impact of digital technology on children's brain development

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

No. Such recommendations will only involve us in a superficial discussion about the quality and content of children's television programs, from which parents will not get anything useful for themselves. Better to start right away with the main thing. Until a few years ago, we neuroscientists believed that the configuration of the branched neural networks in the brain that regulate thinking, emotion, and action was genetically programmed. But now we know that only those neural connections that are regularly activated in real situations are firmly anchored in the child's brain. And for this, children need first of all the experience of bodily experiences.which they can't get in front of the TV.

Adequate body awareness is a prerequisite for the development of cognitive abilities. Scientific research proves this. Elementary schoolchildren who are easy to learn mathematics are also distinguished by good coordination of movements. The foundations of abstract and spatial thinking, which are necessary for learning mathematics, are formed in a child as he learns to keep his body in balance. But as soon as the child sits down in front of the TV, his bodily sense of self becomes dull. He no longer crawls, does not run, does not climb trees. He does not need to coordinate his movements and maintain balance. When a child watches TV, he is missing the time given to him to "master" his own body.

Yes. But there are other ways of bodily self-knowledge, such as singing. When a child sings, his brain must masterfully control the vibration of the vocal cords in order to reproduce sounds with filigree precision. Besides, singing is a complex combinational work. After all, you need to keep the whole melody in your head in order to reproduce it in the correct sequence. And with choral singing, the child learns to act in unison with others - this is a prerequisite for the development of social skills. At the same time, he makes an amazing discovery: it turns out that when you sing, you feel no fear! Now neuroscientists have already figured out that while singing, the brain is not able to activate the fear center. That is why people from time immemorial hum when they walk through the dark forest.

In the most complex part of the brain - in the so-called prefrontal cortex. It is there that our self-perception is formed, and with it - an orientation towards the outside world, the desire to calculate our actions in advance, to cope with unpleasant emotions. All these abilities must develop in early childhood - before the age of six. But the neural networks responsible for them can form in the prefrontal cortex only if the child experiences all this from his own experience. And for this he must do what he can understand and control. Unfortunately, finding such activities is becoming increasingly difficult, because the world of children has changed as much as the world of adults. Previously, any mechanism was understandable. The child could disassemble the alarm clock, study all the gears and guess how it works. Now, in the age of information technology, things around us are often arranged so complicated that it is very difficult to understand the principle of their operation, and sometimes it is generally unrealistic.

The human brain is always adapting to what we do with passion. For example, in the last century, people were fond of machines and even identified with them: they compared the heart to a pump, and joints to hinges. And suddenly a new era began. It is difficult for a modern child to understand why the cursor on the computer screen moves when we move the mouse. Not understanding many cause-and-effect relationships, from a certain moment he generally ceases to ask the question “why? . When young children just start watching TV, they still communicate with the characters on the screen - for example, they tell the hare where the fox is hiding. In general, they are trying to influence the situation. They were taught to do this by experience gained in real life.

But a couple of weeks after the first acquaintance with the TV, most children resign themselves to their impotence and lose the initiative. That is, to some extent, they begin to doubt their ability to act effectively

Undoubtedly. Moreover, a very complex neural network is responsible for it, which is formed in the prefrontal cortex only on the basis of personal experience. In order for a child to learn something, his brain must link new information with an already existing set of ideas, which has developed under the influence of previous experience. He is, so to speak, stirring up the memory in search of what could correspond to the new impression. A "creative fermentation" begins in his mind. And suddenly the child discovers this semantic correspondence! There is a feeling of insight, the “pleasure center” is activated in the brain, nerve cells secrete “hormones of happiness”.

But when watching a movie, it is difficult for a child to independently find a match for new impressions. Therefore, preschool children, ideally, should not watch TV at all and sit in front of a computer.

When a child reads, his brain performs many operations: letters are added to words, then words and phrases are transformed into images and representations. Everything you read comes to life in the child's imagination. The transformation of letters into images is the result of an incredible work of imagination. The Harry Potter movie is nothing compared to the book. The frames on the screen replace each other so quickly that the child does not have time to connect his imagination. And the development of the child is really promoted only by what he reaches with his mind.

It takes experimentation, adventure to develop the brain. For example, fishing with your father or building a hut. Testing generally strengthens the potential of the brain. This is now confirmed even at the neurobiological level. Children must solve as many real-life problems as possible so that important neural connections are formed in their brains. To develop, they need the most interactive environment - and not virtual, but real.

Not certainly in that way. The fact is that many teenagers run the risk of losing touch with reality, immersed in virtual worlds.

Yes, including computer games. The danger arises when children use the computer to meet their basic needs. And we have two of them. First, we want to be involved in some common cause. Secondly, we want to achieve something. Now, many parents no longer know what activities would help the personal growth of their children. Therefore, the child has to look for his own business. And it should be difficult and long enough so that in the end you can experience such happiness as if you had conquered a mountain peak. Now for many boys, computer games have become such a thing, in which they try to achieve perfection. But such achievements do not help them find their place in real life.

First of all, boys who need at least one or two hours a day to play "shooter". By killing monsters, they compensate for the feeling of their own helplessness. The effect of virtual achievements is the same as if these boys gained some new experience. But this experience is only applicable in the virtual world. This is a dangerous tendency - a child purposefully "trains" his brain to act only in situations that occur on a computer screen.

Mostly they communicate in Internet chats. After all, the need for community and interpersonal relationships in girls is stronger than that of boys. When something goes wrong in this area, they try to compensate for the lack of real friendships through virtual communication. Girls with true friendships don't need to chat with each other every five minutes. If girls chat too often, they are likely unsure of the strength of their friendship.

If a child prefers to sit at the computer, instead of frolicking, playing with other children, this is an alarming signal. But there is no need to forbid the child anything. Better to convince him that there is something more interesting in the real world than computer racing.

Many parents enroll their offspring in martial arts courses, go on hikes with their children, or teach them to take care of their younger brothers and sisters. When children have a lively social circle, they are much less likely to be pulled into the abyss of the virtual world. As a rule, rather strong personalities grow out of such children.

Computer addiction is not a congenital disorder. Self-confident, sociable, cheerful, open, creative-minded children perceive the computer adequately - as a wonderful help for work. And the Internet for them is a giant piggy bank of knowledge, where you can find answers to questions from real life.

Not necessary. What adults perceive as aggression is, for many adolescents, one of the usual forms of interaction between people. If the child's perception is dulled by passive consumption of information, he will not attach any importance to what he saw. Experience tells him that anything can happen on the screen, and this is not always easy to understand.

As discouraging as this new experience is, the child's brain will try to relate it to some familiar representation. The child will remember that there is also such a form of interaction between people. It is important here that the parents clearly explain to him: it is not worth striving for such contact, because in reality it is very unpleasant and painful.

Yes, children need the right guidelines to avoid dubious companies and hobbies. And parents should also help them in this. Until they realize that their offspring have needs that are not met in the real world, computers and televisions will increasingly invade the lives of children. It is worth thinking about the prospects of a society in which children are removed from real life, and their brain turns into an instrument optimally adapted to virtual reality and computer games.

Yes. For example, there is evidence that in the past ten years, many adolescents have increased in size that part of the brain that is responsible for controlling the thumb. There, more and more branched neural networks are being formed, thanks to which you can perform incredibly fast thumb manipulations on the keyboard of a mobile phone or game console. But is it really so important in this life to move your thumb quickly? Children may not yet know the answer to this question, but their parents should know it.