Why story and play time really matter

New research tracks brain activity of toddlers and parents using EEGs during activities that support child development.

To better understand how children’s brains work during everyday experiences, Elizabeth Norton and her research team developed the “Social EEG paradigm,” which enabled the recording of brain activity during natural parent-child interactions. Photo courtesy of the LEARN Lab, Northwestern University

By Stephen J. Lewis, Northwestern University October 6, 2026

First-of-its-kind study shows toddlers’ brains are more engaged during parent interaction than screen viewing

Scientists surprised to find children with slower language development and children diagnosed with autism showed similar brain patterns to children with typical development

Research is a “paradigm shift” in studying brains during real interactions

The everyday moments parents spend reading books, solving puzzles and playing with their toddlers may do more than create memories. New research shows these simple interactions engage young brains in ways that screen time cannot.

For the first time ever, Northwestern University researchers show how toddlers’ brains respond during natural moments of play with their parent or caregiver using child-friendly electroencephalography (EEG). Comparing those moments with periods spent watching a movie together, the study found that those playful, interactive moments are associated with increased brain activity linked to attention, learning and social processing.

“We know that parent-child interactions are key for children’s development and this work highlights how meaningfully connecting with your child in play and book reading shifts their brain into a learning mode,” said Elizabeth Norton, senior author of the study, associate professor in the Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and director of Northwestern’s Language Education and Reading Neuroscience (LEARN) Lab.

Co-led by Norton as part of the larger study “When to Worry” about children’s language and mental health development with Laurie Wakschlag, professor of child psychiatry at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, the research will be published Oct. 12 in a special issue of the journal “Brain and Language.”

Photo courtesy of the LEARN Lab, Northwestern University

Bringing neuroscience into the real world

Norton called the research a “paradigm shift” in studying brains in the “real world,” not just in artificial lab environments.

Most neuroscience studies of child development take place under highly controlled laboratory conditions, with children viewing single static images on a screen, hearing sounds or performing structured tasks while researchers measure brain responses.

To better understand how children’s brains work during everyday experiences, Norton and her research team developed the “Social EEG paradigm,” which enabled the recording of brain activity during natural parent-child interactions.

The study included 49 toddlers between 24 and 44 months of age with a range of language abilities and with and without autism. Along with their caregivers, the children wore stretchy fabric EEG caps that measured the brain’s natural electrical activity from the scalp. Parents and children participated in familiar activities such as reading interactive books and solving puzzles together. Researchers also recorded brain activity while the children watched movies alongside their parent.

Norton and collaborators, including Brittany Manning, research assistant professor at Feinberg, reviewed recordings frame by frame to identify moments when parents and children were socially engaged with one another and compared those moments to times when the child’s attention was focused on the movie.

The study investigated two of the most researched brain activity patterns. Researchers looked closely at alpha brain waves which, when lower, are often associated with being in an awake state and paying attention. They also focused on theta brain waves, which when higher, are associated with a person being socially engaged or socially attentive.

“Toddlers consistently displayed lower alpha brain activity and higher theta brain activity during those moments of parent-child engagement, compared to just watching a movie,” Manning said. “Even when children look like they are very engaged with a movie, the study’s findings show it’s really these moments of quality interaction with the caregiver that the children are most engaged.”

Photo courtesy of the LEARN Lab, Northwestern University

Similar patterns across children with and without autism

Norton says one of the study’s most surprising findings was that the same brain patterns emerged across a variety of children, including those with varying language abilities and children diagnosed with autism.

“In our study, autistic children and children with a language delay showed many instances of social engagement with their parent,” Norton said. “While that engagement was less frequent than typically developing children, their brains were just as engaged as their peers.”

Next step

The current study focused on children’s brain activity, but researchers also collected EEG data from parents during the interactions. The team is now examining whether parents’ and children’s brains become synchronized during moments of engagement and whether that neural synchrony is linked to language and mental health development and might help identify which children would benefit from early support and intervention.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Northwestern faculty member Megan Y. Roberts also is an author.

Source Northwestern University