A new study says that excessive television watching can actually cause physical harm to a child’s brain.

According to the researchers, the more time a child views TV the more significant the changes to the child’s brain.

MRI brain scans of children who spent the most hours in front of the TV in the study showed greater amounts of grey matter in the regions around the front of the frontal lobe.  The build up was connected to lower verbal intelligence and that children with the highest IQs showed significantly less grey matter in that area of their brains.

The study showed both boys and girls brains were impacted equally by excessive television viewing.

The researchers said that part of the issue comes from television not requiring any advancement in brain function to view.  In comparison, playing a musical instrument requires increased technical precision and allows for greater, higher levels of achievement.

The scientists could not say conclusively if missing activities such as reading, playing sports or interacting with other children were also to blame.