India, Nov. 22 -- A major US brain-development study is offering a closer look at what long stretches of screen exposure might mean for children. The research, led by teams from the University of Fukui and based on MRI data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, tracked kids over two years and saw measurable differences in several brain regions tied to attention and planning.

Researchers followed nearly 10,116 children, beginning at ages 9-10. When they checked the same group two years later, kids reporting higher daily screen use showed thinner cortex in areas involved in working memory, impulse control, and decision-making.

Those regions included the right temporal pole, the left superior frontal gyrus, and the ...