Dr. Victoria Dunckley explains what happens to a child’s brain when they are gaming in her Psychology Today article “This Is Your Child’s Brain on Video Games”:
“When the fight-or-flight state occurs too often, or too intensely, the brain and body have trouble regulating themselves back to a calm state, leading to a state of chronic stress. Chronic stress is also produced when there is a ‘mismatch’ between fight-or-flight reactions and energy expenditure, as occurs with screen-time. Indeed, the build-up of energy is meant to be physically discharged to allow the nervous system to re-regulate.
Once chronic stress sets in, blood flow is directed away from the higher thinking part of the brain (the frontal lobe) and toward the more primitive, deeper areas necessary for survival, causing impairment in functioning. With children, whose nervous systems are still developing, this sequence of events occurs much faster than it does for adults, and the chronically stressed child soon starts to struggle.”
Psychology Today -> Read Dr Victoria Dunkley’s explanation on the science of what actually happens to a child’s brain whilst gaming
