Der passive Konsum endloser Kurzvideos führt zu einer bestimmten Art kognitiver Müdigkeit, die im Volksmund als „Gehirnfäule“ bekannt ist. Das endlose Scrollen zehrt an geistiger Energie und führt zu Burnout, was wiederum Stress und Angst steigert, bevor es schließlich zu depressiven Symptomen führt.
New study links digital “brain rot” to a cascading sequence of psychological burdens
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The passive consumption of endless short-form videos creates a specific type of cognitive fatigue popularly known as brain rot. A new study reveals that this digital exhaustion does not lead directly to depression, but rather sets off a predictable psychological chain reaction. The findings suggest that endless scrolling drains mental energy and induces burnout, which in turn elevates stress and anxiety before eventually culminating in depressive symptoms. The research was published in [*Psychological Reports*](https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941261450856).
In recent years, social media interaction has shifted away from active communication and toward passive observation. Platforms driven by algorithms feed users a relentless stream of highly stimulating short videos. This structural shift has changed how young people process information on a daily basis.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00332941261450856
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Wait, a brain rot is not like that no ? Did they change the definition of it or was I wrong?
I thought it was something that stick to the mind like a meme or a music jingle or something that you keep using or hearing usually for fun.
Anyone able to access the original study this article was about? I wanted to see if the authors defined brain rot videos re: length of time or other measures.
That is not what brain rot is. Brain rot are things produced by the internet that make absolutely no sense but somehow are popular. Like Tung tung Sahur, the AI baby, skibidi toilet, etc…
These things may cause the fatigue, but calling the fatigue “brain rot” is a huge L on the science community and shows their ability, or lack thereof, to truly understand the zeitgeist.
Before I knew what it was, I wondered why people would listen to 5 seconds of some random music, and then another, again and again… absolutely infuriating. I couldn’t see what they were looking at on their phone, it was the endless and jarring series of mini-clips of music that was brain-melting annoying. How could people accept this?
The scrolling apps are also quite literally designed around human dopamine responses, essentially gaming your addition response
Dopamine is released in anticipation of a reward, which drives reward seeking behaviour. And stopping mid reward seeking causes essentially withdrawal (negative emotional and physical response) from a drop in brain chemicals due to the lack of a post-dopamine reward.
By feeding you a ratio of good/bad content it takes advantage of that pre-reward dopamine response to further drive that doom-scrolling
And that doesn’t even touch on the additional effects of the content itself. Constantly comparing yourself to others, rage bait made to annoy you to drive engagement, etc.
Bonus points if you don’t have any headphones on in the break room at work.
I couldn’t get through that long ass title, got the brain rot
oh no, the important science people don’t understand what „brain rot“ refers to
Passive endless consumption of all this crap is brain rot. People blame a lot of external factors for their anxiety and depression. But anyone would also be depressed if all they do is sit on social media all day.
Putting my phone down now. Thanks.
There is a very easy test to see if you’re experience brain rot. Try reading a short story and you can tell if you can concentrate longer than a few minutes.
Oh, hey, look. It’s me. Yay.
that’s all what some people have.. literally their whole lives.