Watching short-form videos you enjoy may turn down the brain's self-control system - study

This may help explain why it can be so difficult for some netizens to stop scrolling on social media.

In a July 2026 study published in NeuroImage, researchers looked at what happens in the brain when people watch short-form videos they enjoy.

The study examined 56 young adults who watched short-form videos while inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner.

Participants who watched videos they liked tended to watch them all the way to the end, while less-preferred videos were more likely to be stopped early.

The researchers found that when people watched short videos they really liked, two brain areas involved in self-control, attention, and decision-making became less active.

“The entertaining and habitual nature of short-video consumption for leisure shifts neural processing toward emotional engagement and immediate gratification, contributing to excessive use and diminished self-control in some individuals,” the study said.

Meanwhile, a May 2026 study published in Psychological Reports claims excessive digital stimulation may lead to burnout, which increases stress and anxiety and could contribute to depressive symptoms.

“Brain rot did not directly predict depression but triggered a ‘loss spiral’ by first depleting resources (burnout), which then elevated stress and anxiety, ultimately precipitating depressive symptoms,” the study said.

In 2024, brain rot was hailed as Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year, which is used to describe "concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media."

So now we know! While binging on content we like may seem like a good activity for relaxation, it may also lead to burnout and contribute depressive symptoms. — LA, GMA News