A new study has found that watching too much television can actually cause structural damage to a developing child's brain, Newsmax Health reports.

The Daily Mail reports Japanese researchers who studied 276 boys and girls, aged 5 to 18 years, and found the more time they spent viewing TV, the more profound the brain alterations appeared to be.

The participants watched between zero and four hours of television per day. MRI brain scans showed those who spent the most hours in front of the TV had greater amounts of grey matter in regions around the frontopolar cortex — the area at the front of the frontal lobe — linked to lower verbal intelligence.

"In conclusion, TV viewing is directly or indirectly associated with the neurocognitive development of children," scientists, from Tohoku University in the city of Sendai, said. "At least some of the observed associations are not beneficial and guardians of children should consider these effects when children view TV for long periods of time."