Book or screen?

📚 Book or screen? What science says about brain development in young children

In a world where screens take up more and more space in our daily lives, parents face a crucial question: how does screen time affect our children’s brains? A study published in JAMA Pediatrics in 2020 (based on data from 2017–2018) offers some answers, and it reinforces what many educators and child specialists have long said: nothing replaces shared reading.

🧠 What the JAMA Pediatrics study shows

American researchers studied the brains of 47 children aged 3 to 5, in relation to their use of screens (tablets, televisions, smartphones). Using advanced MRI, they observed the structure of the white matter, which handles communication between different areas of the brain, especially those involved in language and reading.

Result: the more time a child spent in front of a screen, the less optimally organised the white matter in their brain was. (Hutton et al., JAMA Pediatrics, 2020)

Children exposed to fast-paced, noisy content, or content watched without an adult, performed worse in essential areas: vocabulary, sound processing, pre-reading.

📖 And what about reading?

Reading shared with an adult — whether a bedtime story, leafing through a picture word book, or simply talking about an illustrated book — has the opposite effect to screens flashing fast-paced images. It supports:

• 🧩 Language development: through rich and varied exposure to vocabulary.
• 🔗 Brain connectivity: MRI scans show that children who are read to regularly develop stronger connections in the areas of language and imagination (Hutton et al., Pediatrics, 2015).
• 💬 Social skills: reading together stimulates listening, memory and emotional regulation.
• 🎨 Imagination and concentration: where fast images impose their pace, books give children time to think, imagine and ask questions.

📌 In short

The study published in JAMA Pediatrics confirms an essential truth: the first years of life are decisive for brain development. In this context, nothing replaces reading — simple, warm, interactive — to nourish a child’s language, thinking and natural curiosity.

As a parent, giving your child things to read means giving them an invisible but fundamental asset: a brain ready to learn, understand and dream.

✍️ References

• Hutton JS, Dudley J, Horowitz-Kraus T, et al. Associations Between Screen-Based Media Use and Brain White Matter Integrity in Preschool-Aged Children. JAMA Pediatr. 2020;174(1):e193869. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.3869
• Hutton JS, Horowitz-Kraus T, Mendelsohn AL, et al. Home Reading Environment and Brain Activation in Preschool Children Listening to Stories. Pediatrics. 2015;136(3):466–478. doi:10.1542/peds.2015-0359