Brain Rot
World Internet Day presents a golden opportunity to reflect on Brain rot, the expression declared Word of the Year 2024 by Oxford University Press after more than 37,000 votes, a global public debate, and a rigorous linguistic data analysis.
The expresión has gained traction throughout 2023 and 2024. It refers to the “decline in a person’s mental or intellectual state as a result of excessive consumption of material (particularly online content) considered trivial or unstimulating.”
What may have started as a casual expression has ended up serving as a warning about the link between such online content and a reduction in gray matter in the brain, decreased attention span, memory weakening, and a distortion of fundamental cognitive processes.
Brain rot is more than just a trendy term for one generation or another. In recent years, science has shown that excessive consumption of Internet content—especially that which is baseless, empty, sensationalist, or even conspiratorial—can cause structural changes in the brain, affecting behavior.
Michoel Moshel, a researcher at the School of Psychological Sciences at Macquarie University (Australia), explains that the tendency to seek out or consume negative news—which also has its own term: doomscrolling—can trap individuals in a cycle that lasts for hours.
“This can severely affect attention and executive functioning by overwhelming our focus and altering how we perceive and respond to the world,” the researcher notes.
The problem lies in the fact that social media users are often exposed to highly variable stimuli from different platforms—Instagram, WhatsApp, news sites—with addictive potential, thereby impairing their own cognitive capacity.
Since the early 20th century, experts have warned about these effects. When email first appeared, scientific studies indicated it posed a threat to IQ levels.
After dozens of clinical trials, it was established that the IQ of participants who used email and mobile phones daily dropped by an average of 10 points.
The landscape changed with the rise of Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. Now, the warning is linked to the reduction of gray matter in the brain’s prefrontal regions—areas that regulate emotions, memory, impulses, and play a role in conflict resolution.
Moshel’s research also found that changes in young people “coincide with the disruption of processes such as identity formation and social cognition—critical aspects during this stage of development.”
According to a study published in the journal Nature, individuals with poor mental health are more likely to consume low-quality content, which in turn worsens their symptoms. In this sense, the more time a user spends in front of a screen, the harder it becomes to recognize and limit the problem.
To avoid being addictively consumed by social media, experts recommend maintaining healthy habits, such as limiting time on social networks. While digital platforms are designed to capture attention, time spent on them can be regulated—even through apps—to prevent anxiety, depression, and to improve academic and work performance.
Another recommended habit is practicing mindfulness. This means being fully present and aware of one’s thoughts and emotions without judgment. It can help retrain the brain to improve concentration, reduce stress, and enhance cognitive functions such as memory and attention.
