For the prestigious University of Oxford, it is the word (or rather two words) of the year: the «brain rot» refers to a form of brain rot. Official definition of the term: “Mental degradation linked to excessive consumption of poor quality digital content”. In other words, it is the fact of polluting our brain by scrolling again and again on TikTok or elsewhere. The phrase is also known as “digital dumbing down”.
Problem: according to Futurism, the expression «brain rot» would also be taken literally. The information comes from the Spanish daily El País, which explains that our brain really suffers the effects of excessive consumption of low-level content. According to several scientific sources, our gray matter is directly affected, not to mention the reduction in our attention span and the weakening of our memory.
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The growing popularity of the phrase «brain rot» made El País want to interview Michoel Moshel, author of a meta-analysis – that is to say a methodical compilation of independent analyzes – on the subject, published in 2023 by Springer Nature. In particular, we learned that in brain regions involved in decision-making, reward processing and impulse control, excessive use of the internet led to a reduction in the volume of gray matter.
Morbid Scrolling
“These changes reflect patterns observed in substance addictions”explains the doctor in neuropsychology, who compares the effects observed to those of methamphetamines or alcohol. The Australian scientist aims in particular at doomscrollingwhich our Quebec friends like to call “morbid scrolling”: this practice of consuming negative information at great length has real consequences.
“It can significantly impair attention and executive functions by overwhelming our focus and changing the way we perceive and respond to the world”explains Michoel Moshel. This one sees the doomscrolling as a consequence of “our brain's natural tendency to seek out new things, especially when it involves potentially dangerous or alarming information, a trait that once helped us survive”.
According to some research, this limitless absorption induces a dissociative state, which explains why we lose track of time so much when we have our noses in our smartphone. According to a 2023 study, in which 1,100 people were interviewed, compulsive consumption of digital content on social networks has negative effects both physically and mentally.
These deplorable effects can be explained, among other things, by the fact that the applications and sites consulted constantly bombard us with variable stimuli which force us to constantly adapt our concentration, explains Eduardo Fernández-Jiménez, clinical psychologist at La Paz Hospital in Madrid. In the long run, this degrades our ability to focus on a single task for long periods of time, harming “academic learning processes”. It's not too late to make new year's resolutions and try to improve your relationship with your smartphone.
