@article{20493f13597c4f669212d58a600498f2,
title = "Impact of frequency of internet use on development of brain structures and verbal intelligence: Longitudinal analyses",
abstract = "Excessive internet use is shown to be cross sectionally associated with lower cognitive functioning and reduced volume of several brain areas. However, the effects of daily internet use on the development of verbal intelligence and brain structures have not been investigated. Here, we cross sectionally examined the effects of the frequency of internet use on regional gray/white matter volume (rGMV/rWMV) and verbal intelligence as well as their longitudinal changes after 3.0 ± 0.3 (standard deviation) years in a large sample of children recruited from the general population (mean age, 11.2 ± 3.1 years; range, 5.7–18.4 years). Although there were no significant associations in cross sectional analyses, a higher frequency of internet use was found to be associated with decrease of verbal intelligence and smaller increase in rGMV and rWMV of widespread brain areas after a few years in longitudinal analyses. These areas involve areas related to language processing, attention and executive functions, emotion, and reward. In conclusion, frequent internet use is directly or indirectly associated with decrease of verbal intelligence and development to smaller gray matter volume at later stages.",
keywords = "brain development, gray matter volume, internet use, verbal intelligence, white matter volume",
author = "Hikaru Takeuchi and Yasuyuki Taki and Kohei Asano and Michiko Asano and Yuko Sassa and Susumu Yokota and Yuka Kotozaki and Rui Nouchi and Ryuta Kawashima",
note = "Funding Information: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Grant/Award Number: KAKENHI 23700306; Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B), Grant/Award Number: KAKENHI 23700306; JST/RISTEX, JST/CREST; Tohoku University Funding Information: We respectfully thank Yuki Yamada for operating the MRI scanner, for being an examiner of psychological tests. We also thank study participants, the other examiners of psychological tests, and all of our colleagues in Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer and in Tohoku University for their support. This study was supported by JST/RISTEX, JST/CREST. This study was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) (KAKENHI 23700306) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. The authors would like to thank Enago (www.enago.jp) for the English language review. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.",
year = "2018",
month = nov,
doi = "10.1002/hbm.24286",
language = "English",
volume = "39",
pages = "4471--4479",
journal = "Human Brain Mapping",
issn = "1065-9471",
publisher = "Wiley-Liss Inc.",
number = "11",
}