{
  "id": 16026640,
  "title": "Brain scans suggest first graders don’t engage their control networks like adults when talking to ChatGPT",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/22/brain-scans-suggest-first-graders-dont-engage-their-control-networks",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-22T10:00:26.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PsyPost",
    "slug": "psypost",
    "url": "https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-suggest-first-graders-dont-engage-their-control-networks-like-adults-when-talking-to-chatgpt/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent brain imaging study has revealed that young children, specifically first graders, engage their control networks in a different manner than adults when interacting with an AI chatbot like ChatGPT. Despite similar performance on a creative thinking test outside the scanner, only adults demonstrated a correlation between heightened creativity and enhanced coordination among their mental control systems during their conversations with the AI. The research, published in Cerebral Cortex, suggests that the brain wiring necessary for actively directing and evaluating a collaborative conversation with generative artificial intelligence may not yet be fully developed in young children. Generative AI programs such as ChatGPT utilize large language models to predict word combinations and produce human-like responses. As these tools become more prevalent in homes and classrooms, children are increasingly utilizing them for creative purposes, including storytelling and collaborative problem-solving, a process known as co-creativity. Maintaining a dialogue with a dynamic, unpredictable digital partner necessitates cognitive control, which involves planning ahead, staying focused on a goal, retaining previously mentioned information, and filtering out irrelevant distractions. Generating original and useful ideas heavily relies on the communication between various brain systems. In adults, a 2018 neuroimaging study found that those who generate more original ideas exhibit stronger synchronization among three major brain networks: one associated with spontaneous daydreaming and memory, another that identifies important new thoughts, and a third responsible for cognitive control and goal-directed planning. These systems collaborate to allow individuals to brainstorm freely and assess the validity of their ideas. However, young children's brain networks responsible for cognitive control and focused attention are still developing and reaching full maturity in the mid-twenties. A 2019 study by the same research group found that as children age, their cognitive control networks show stronger connections within and between themselves while listening to stories. Furthermore, a 2023 study indicated that the relationship between cognitive control networks and creative thinking changes across development, with stronger connectivity linked to higher creativity in adolescents but lower creativity in adults. First grade, around the ages of six and seven, is a critical developmental period when children begin formal schooling, rapidly develop executive functions, and often place great trust in perceived experts and technology without significant skepticism. The study was led by Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus, an associate professor with the Educational Neuroimaging Group at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and her colleagues Yoed Kenett, Dafna Link-Sourani, Emeel Ashqar, and Rola Farah. They aimed to investigate how first graders' cognitive control and attention networks function when brainstorming with ChatGPT and how that brain activity aligns with their underlying creative ability. The researchers recruited 15 first-grade children, averaging around 6.4 years old, and 16 adults, with an average age of approximately 38 years. All participants were from average to above-average socioeconomic backgrounds, had no history of neurological or psychiatric conditions, and completed standard tests to confirm typical verbal and nonverbal intelligence. Inside an fMRI scanner, participants engaged in a five-minute spoken conversation with ChatGPT, discussing the opening of any type of store they desired. Prior to the scan, children were informed they would be speaking to \"the smartest computer in the world,\" while adults were instructed to converse with the AI.",
  "summary": "Chatting with a chatbot seems easy, but a small brain imaging study suggests six-year-olds don’t yet coordinate their brain’s control networks the way adults do during the conversation, which the researchers say is why adult guidance matters.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}