Early Television Exposure and Subsequent Attention Problems in Children

Healy comments on the study by Christakis et al, relating the amount of children's television exposure at ages 1 and 3 years to later attention problems. She claims neuroscience increasingly confirms the power of environmental experiences in shaping the developing brain because of the plasticity of its neuronal connectivity. Thus, repeated exposure to any stimulus in a child's environment may forcibly impact mental and emotional growth by either setting up particular circuitry or depriving the brain of other experiences.