Screen time and reading aren't just separate activities; they are direct competitors for the same neural real estate in a child's brain. For children who already struggle to read, a screen-heavy lifestyle may be physically exhausting the very brain circuits they need to improve.
High ratios of screen time compared to reading time correlate with lower literacy scores and suggest that digital media competes with reading for cognitive resources. For children with dyslexia, this competition is particularly intense, as screen use appears to strain the same "executive control" networks they rely on to compensate for reading difficulties.
This finding changes the "how much" conversation to a "this instead of that" conversation. If your child is struggling with reading, every hour on a screen isn't just a missed opportunity to read—it might be actively draining the battery of the brain regions required for literacy. Understanding that screens and books use overlapping neural pathways helps parents prioritize the "ratio" of their child's day rather than just chasing a specific number of minutes. For children with reading difficulties, the brain is already working harder to process text; adding heavy screen use creates a double-burden on their attention and focus.
Researchers were concerned about the "displacement hypothesis"—the idea that screens are harmful simply because they take time away from better activities. They wanted to see if the impact went deeper than just lost time. By using fMRI scans to look at the "resting state" of the brain, they aimed to see how habitual screen use versus reading habits shaped the way different brain regions talk to one another, specifically in children with and without dyslexia. They focused on the "salience network," which acts as the brain's air traffic controller, deciding what deserves our attention.
A high screen-to-reading ratio is linked to significantly lower scores in reading, working memory, and inhibition. The brain scans revealed that the impact of this ratio looks different depending on how well a child already reads:
- In children with reading difficulties, more screen time was tied to increased "chatter" between the brain’s attention-switching network and its frontal executive regions. This suggests these kids are overtaxing their brains to process digital input, leaving them with fewer resources for reading.
- In typical readers, high screen use was linked to increased connectivity in the primary visual cortex, potentially indicating a brain that is becoming "over-tuned" to rapid visual stimulation at the expense of other types of processing.
- Across the board, the children studied spent significantly more time on screens than they did reading books, with the average child in similar demographics reaching over three hours of screen time daily.
The "neural competition" theory implies that the brain has a finite amount of energy for complex tasks. For a child with dyslexia, reading is an "all-hands-on-deck" manual process. When they spend the rest of their day on high-stimulation screens, they aren't resting those circuits; they are likely keeping them in a state of high-alert friction. The screen isn't providing a "break" for the brain's executive functions—it’s asking them to run a second marathon. This suggests that for struggling readers, the negative effects of screens aren't just about what they aren't doing (reading), but about the physical strain screens place on their specific brain architecture.
The study involved only 57 children, which is a small sample for brain imaging research and limits how much we can generalize to all families. Because the study was observational and cross-sectional, it cannot prove that screen time caused these brain changes; it is equally possible that children who find reading difficult simply gravitate toward screens because they are easier to process. Furthermore, the data relied on parents remembering and reporting their children's time usage, a method that is notoriously prone to error and "social desirability" bias.
- If your child has dyslexia or a diagnosed reading difficulty, treat entertainment screen time as a high-drain activity rather than "down time" and try to schedule it after reading tasks are completed.
- If you are setting family digital rules, focus on the "ratio" of media—aim for a one-to-one balance where every hour of screen time is matched by an hour of reading or high-quality engagement with text.
- If your child seems unusually "fried" or impulsive after long screen sessions, recognize that their brain’s attention-switching circuits may be overtaxed and move toward low-stimulation activities like building, drawing, or outdoor play to allow those circuits to recover.
- If you are choosing digital content, prioritize slower-paced educational media, as the study did not distinguish between educational and entertainment use, but did highlight the strain of visual overstimulation.
Stop looking at screen time as a neutral void and start seeing it as a competitor for your child's mental energy. For the struggling reader, the ratio of screens to books is a critical lever for brain health. Prioritizing reading isn't just about learning words; it's about protecting the neural resources your child needs to think, focus, and learn.
Horowitz-Kraus T, DiFrancesco M, Greenwood P et al. (2021). Longer Screen Vs. Reading Time is Related to Greater Functional Connections Between the Salience Network and Executive Functions Regions in Children with Reading Difficulties Vs. Typical Readers. Child psychiatry and human development. doi:10.1007/s10578-020-01053-x — https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7930153/