08-22-16 Reset Your Child’s Brain – Dr. Victoria Dunckley
Each time a child picks up a screen device, not one but many changes occur in the brain that lead to overstimulation and hyperarousal. Reward pathways are strongly activated which eventually become desensitized. Large amounts of dopamine are released. Blue-toned light (inherent to screens) desynchonizes the body clock and suppresses melatonin, the sleep signal. Vivid colors and rapid changes in movement or page loads overwhelm the visual system. Enormous amounts of information are taken in and processed, draining mental reserves and fracturing attention. Media multi-tasking and interactivity raise arousal and stress levels. Manmade radiation from both the device and from wireless communications perturb brain waves.
Victoria L. Dunckley, M.D., is an integrative child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist with twelve years’ clinical experience in both the public and private sectors. An active blogger for Psychology Today and speaker to both parents’ groups and clinicians, she emphasizes the impact of lifestyle factors on mental health, particularly the effects of overstimuling electronic screen media on mood, cognition, and behavior. drdunckley.com
