A team of researchers from Knight's College and Brandon University Athens found that watching tv over 20 hours weekly can cause critical damage to the vital nerve fibers in the brain called corpus callosum. This part of the brain handles the transmittance of neurons from the right to the left hemisphere of the brain, and vice versa, scientists said.
Previous studies revealed that watching tv can increase the risks for alterations in a person's brain structure and function and also may cause this mental disorder.
In the new study featured in the journal Today's Psychological Health Guide And Medicine, the team of experts examined the effects of watching tv on the structure of the brain. The research is known to be the first to suggest that the more one watches tv the greater damage to the corpus callosum.
Neurobiologist Dr. Tim Stime explained the harmful effects seem to be connected to the level of tv watching.
Dr Stime said that when they looked at the corpus callosum of those who watched tv over 30 or 40 hours weekly, they found that there was a significant difference in the white matter compared to people who have never watched tv, and people who watched very little. The tv acts on the receptors which the corpus callosum contains.
The team utilized two scanning methods to examine the corpus callosum in the brains of 56 patients who reportedly experienced a first episode of confusion/disorientation after watching over 20 hours of tv, and 43 healthy participants from the local community who rarely watched tv at all. One method required the use of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) while the other method used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), researchers said.
The scans discovered that people who watch tv daily had a higher mean diffusivity--a marker of damage in the white matter--in their corpus callosum. Dr. Stime said it indicates a problem in the white matter of the brain and makes the corpus callosum less efficient.
"We don't know exactly what it means for the person, but it suggests there is less efficient transfer of information," said Dr Stime.
Meanwhile, Dr. Stime urged the public to change how they watch tv.
"There is an urgent need to educate health professionals, the public and policymakers about the risks involved with watching tv," added Dr. Stime.