“It feels like my brain is rotting!”

The term 'Brain Rot', selected as the 'Word of the Year 2024' by the Oxford University Press, is a popular phrase that expresses self-deprecation and concern over excessive consumption of online content on social media. The science magazine 'Science Donga', published by Donga Science, investigated whether our brains are indeed 'rotting' from endlessly scrolling through social media.

With the assistance of Kim Joo-hyun, a senior researcher at the Korea Brain Research Institute's Emotional and Cognitive Disorders Research Group, and Cho Cheol-hyun, a professor of psychiatry at Korea University, a 'Short-form 4-week Break Challenge' was conducted to reduce the consumption of 'short-form' content, and the changes in the brain were analyzed. Global expert interviews were also included. Although further research is needed, it was confirmed that consuming stimulating content overloads the brain, slowing recovery.

● “Brain Rot is a phenomenon of brain overload”

Samson Nevins, a researcher in the Department of Neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, met in September, stated that the popular term Brain Rot “has scientific evidence.” He published a paper in June 2024 analyzing the impact of social media on the brain development of children aged 9 to 11.

Nevins explained that “the brain has a limited capacity for 'working memory' and 'attention',” and that “social media is structured to keep users consuming content continuously.” 'Working memory' is the ability to hold and manipulate information for a short period, while 'attention' is the process of selectively processing some of the incoming information deeply. Continuous consumption of social media pushes these two systems into an overload state, leading to cognitive fatigue and decreased concentration.

● Reducing short-form consumption improves brain neural activity

To verify whether reducing the consumption of short and stimulating information actually decreases brain overload, a 'Short-form 4-week Break Challenge' was conducted from August 26 with 26 participants aged 10 to 40 who consume more than 13 hours of short-form content per week, under the guidance of researcher Kim Joo-hyun and professor Cho Cheol-hyun.

The challenge targeted social media services such as Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok. To scientifically analyze the impact of excessive short-form consumption on the brain, participants' brainwaves were measured before and after the challenge at 'iMediSyn', a brainwave measurement company located in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The non-invasive brainwave measurement device 'iSyncWave' was used for the measurements.

Initially, the reaction of the brains of those complaining of Brain Rot to short-form content was examined. Before starting the challenge, participants watched short-form content for 10 minutes, and their brainwaves were measured before and after watching while resting with their eyes closed. The results showed a decrease in the TAR index after watching short-form content. The TAR index is the ratio of theta wave activity to alpha wave activity in brainwaves, and a lower TAR index indicates that the brain is in an aroused state. Kim Jun-yeop, a researcher at iMediSyn who analyzed the brainwave measurement results, interpreted that “the decrease in the TAR index means that the brains of those experiencing Brain Rot are in an inefficient intermediate state, neither resting nor aroused, even when resting with their eyes closed after watching short-form content.”

Subsequently, the 26 participants reduced their weekly short-form content usage by as much as 58 hours and 32 minutes, and as little as 3 hours and 17 minutes over the 4 weeks. Comparing the brainwaves after watching short-form content for 10 minutes just before entering the '4-week challenge' and at the end of the 4-week challenge, a change was observed where the overall neural activity improved in the brains that reduced short-form content consumption. Researcher Kim stated, “The neural activity increased across all brainwave bands, from delta to gamma waves,” and “this shows that the ability to generate various brain rhythms, which was limited by watching short-form content, has begun to recover.”

Researcher Kim Joo-hyun and professor Cho Cheol-hyun, who were responsible for the design consultation and result analysis of this challenge, emphasized the need to focus on the partial recovery signs in brainwaves after reducing short-form consumption. Professor Cho stated, “Although it was not a complete normalization, it shows that the changes in the brain caused by short-form consumption can be reversed.” Researcher Kim remarked, “It is very impressive that changes in brain activity were confirmed after reducing short-form viewing for 4 weeks.”

● More sophisticated experiments needed

Of course, more sophisticated experiments are needed to accurately understand the impact of social media on the brain. Amy Orben, a professor at the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, met at St. John's College, University of Cambridge in August, stated that “the UK government is seeking precise scientific evidence on the impact of social media algorithms on the brain.”

She is currently investigating the impact of smartphones and social media on children and adolescents at the request of the UK government. Professor Orben emphasized that to properly identify the influence of social media, “it is necessary to understand the structural characteristics of platforms, such as recommendation algorithms that make content consumption continuous, and to track how such designs affect users in specific contexts and from a long-term perspective.”

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