HEALTH: IS "BRAIN ROT" REAL? HOW TOO MUCH SCREEN TIME CAN HARM YOUR BRAIN

Doomscrolling, Instagram obsessions, mindless YouTube video binges: these behaviors are certainly distracting, but can they truly "rot" a person's brain?

Last year, Oxford University Press named "brain rot" as its word of the year, following an online user vote. They defined it as the "purported deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state" caused by excessive consumption of "trivial or unchallenging" material found on social media and other online platforms.

"It's what happens when you consume too much low-quality online content, which is like junk food for the brain," said Andreana Benitez, a lecturer in the Department of Neurology at the Medical University of South Carolina in the United States. However, it's not entirely clear if or how such content is actively damaging the brain.

Digital Content Consumption Habits Can Harm Health

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), half of adolescents in the United States spend four hours or more on screens daily, and global estimates suggest adults may be online for an average of over six hours a day.

There are no federal health guidelines establishing how many hours of screen time per day are appropriate for adolescents or adults. Researchers still lack sufficient data to fully understand the concept of "brain rot" and what it might lead to. "There's no consistent science on it yet," Benitez noted. However, CDC data shows that 1 in 4 adolescents who frequently scroll social media feeds report feeling anxious or depressed.

Some research suggests that problems related to intensive online use can start very early. Adolescents who spend more time on screens may be more likely to experience mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and oppositional defiant disorder, as well as related physical symptoms like pain, dizziness, or nausea. This comes from a 2024 analysis of data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, the largest long-term study of child brain development in the United States.

Other studies have potentially linked cognitive degradation to emotional desensitization, cognitive overload, negative self-esteem, and impaired executive function skills, including memory, planning, and decision-making.

Do We Need to Rethink Our Digital Diet?

While there's no evidence that daily hours of screen time are altering the physical structure of the human brain, it's what isn't happening during those hours that could be harmful, especially for young people whose brains are still developing, argues Constantino Iadecola, Director of the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City.

The more time young people spend on screens, the less time they spend being physically active or having face-to-face human interactions that provide the developing brain with critical, complex sensory and emotional input, Iadecola explained. According to the expert, "brain development requires a diversity of exposures," so when you're on your phone, "you're not having other experiences."

"We are replacing artificial interactions with human interactions, and artificial interactions lack the complexity of human experience: the verbal, sensory, and emotional reactions we have after interacting with people," Iadecola said.

For Benitez, it's not just the time spent on screens that matters, but also the content consumed. "If you consume excessive amounts of low-quality online content, you are more likely to be exposed to information that could distort your perception of reality and harm your mental health," the professor asserted. This can lead to a form of burnout, but the threshold beyond which damage occurs still needs to be determined, according to the expert.

Sifting through large quantities of negative content can also leave a person mentally exhausted, she said. Sticking to her junk food analogy, Benitez compares short periods of screen time to an occasional bad-quality snack. "A bag of chips might not be so bad, but if you eat three at a time, that could be a problem," she explained.

How to Engage with Screen Time More Responsibly

Helping children and adults adopt a healthier online diet is not easy because much of modern life takes place online, Benitez continued, from work to school assignments, shopping, entertainment, and socializing.

"With children, screens are part of their lives," she said, but "it's up to adults to curate the content, ensure they are consuming content that is good for them, and in a way that doesn't cause mental fatigue. We need to make sure they have critical thinking as they interact with screens."

A good rule of thumb is to avoid phone use before bed. "Consuming exciting information and being exposed to light when the body should be relaxing for sleep could affect sleep," Benitez confirmed.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests families develop plans to encourage digital consumption that fosters creativity and connections with family and friends, while also recommending that parents emphasize the importance of offline activities such as sports, music, art, and hands-on hobbies. The AAP notes, however, that some use of devices and digital content can be "healthy and positive," a point on which both Benitez and Iadecola agree.

According to experts, it's fine to use technology; the key is to do so mindfully and in moderation to prevent it from becoming an "addictive behavior."

What are your thoughts on managing screen time effectively, especially for young people?