Into the “brain rot” psyche

Sometimes the brain just needs to shut up.Here, feed it this reel. And another one. This one’s just a cat doing a dance challenge. Simply harmless. Yes, harmless. Like it to get more.Time pass? Boredom? The all-knowing algorithm will take care of it. Keep liking. Don’t stop.Reality is too complex. No words to describe it? Watch this reel. More and some more. The brain is quiet.I rot in the neuronic pillars of my headResearchers, scientists and doctors alike have always fussed over the brain, psychologically and medically. Contemporary internet culture gives them another reason to do it — brain rot. It was named the Oxford Word of the Year in 2024. Surely, we have heard all about it.Brain rot’s public fame from the confines of social media brought to light several serious concerns regarding the effects of present-day social media use patterns on the brain, typically among the younger generation who relatively have an upperhand when it comes to grasping and using digital tech. Illustration by Esra Eslen. | Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons BRAINROTOXFORD DEFINITIONthe supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration.Doomscrolling, low attention span, feedback loop, instant gratification, too much screen time, overstimulation, memory disruption, etc. stand out as aspects fuelling a collective brain rot. As the word suggests, the idea is one of rotting — rotting of the high intelligence and cognition that puts humans on the top among the creatures of Earth. How interestingly ironic it is, this concept, culturally perceiving that the same intelligence that created all this brilliant tech is mediating the ‘rotting’.Are we cooked?Let’s put aside the negative connotations and start with a clean plate. Initially, brain rot’s popularity had brought immense panic among the adults. It was a threat and some even viewed it as a sort of “Gen-Z disease”. The thing is, brain rot is somewhere between a pop label and mental malady which means arguments on and around the concept are continuously being shaped and reshaped. The behaviours and effects are still being monitored.Interestingly, some brain science and psychology studies this year have described brainrot as participatory, allaying the particularly gloomy theme that it is a downgrading cognitive characteristic of an entire generation of teenagers. These studies highlight two important things about the psyche of brainrot — how we use our free time and participation. It challenges the notion of brain rot as a helpless passive setup that affects all youth. The baton is in our hands. Let’s analyse this again.Brain rot is not a medical diagnosis but rather a description encompassing nonsense low-quality content and the fatigue and fog we feel because of it.Algorithmic biasWhen do we use social media mostly? During free time. Now, in my free time, if I like a short reel video and more videos like that pop up on my feed, I’m the participant participating in the algorithm, aren’t I? A 2026 study by Emilie Owens published in the journal New Media & Society revealed that brain rot can be understood as “decompression-driven” and that teenagers are “actively resisting” productivity similar to how people binge-watch or even play games. Huh, very interesting. Imagine I’m home after work and my brain is filled with thoughts related to work. I need my brain to shut up, so I open social media for quick distraction and relaxation. If it were years back, after coming from school, I would likely go out to play instead. If a 40-something guy started using social media right now and drove the algorithm to keep giving him all these new varieties of low-quality and unchallenging reels, isn’t he also a citizen of the brainrot kingdom?Did you know?Brain rot is actually not a 21st century word formation. Though it is a teenage slang now, the term was recorded for the first time in transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau’s work Walden in 1854! Walden, a meditation on simple living and a profound critique of the fast-paced modern society, stemmed from Thoreau’s life in the woods which he writes he went into “because I wanted to live deliberately”.Chaithanya N C, a neuropsychologist at the Ananthapuri Hospital and Research Institute, pointed out the larger case — “it is not that teenagers are at fault, rather, the digital environment is set up that way and in this case, demanding such ultra-short, nonsensical videos to grab their attention.” Owens notes that binge-watching has an end point, i.e. when the show ends, whereas scrolling is infinite. The social media algorithmic bias driven by feedback loops (user interactions are taken as triggers which shape the future content) point to a need that the person using the social media has to have a greater awareness and control of the information they get.Next door neighbour, AIChaithanya says, “AI in itself is not strictly causative of brain rot, but the type of content consumed and the need for engagement may be associated with brain rot. AI tools make it easier to generate large amounts of repetitive, absurd, or low-quality content that can induce mental states of brain rot, which include fragmented attention, a need for constant stimulation to escape boredom and doomscrolling.” Researchers, scientists and doctors alike have always fussed over the brain. | Photo Credit: Unsplash Images Along with the whole discourse on AI’s impacts on our life and the never-ending flood of AI slop, recently many countries have curbed access to social media for teens. Chaitanya says banning “seems like punishing teens for things they are not completely accountable for”.No skibidi toiletThe larger digital environment now is one that directly brings us anxiety, stress. With more brain rot content consumption, we are likely to distract ourselves, forcing us to lose connection and straying away from sincere knowledge. The anxiety and stress that we indirectly build from the way we engage with social media can even bring depression and full-fledged burnout.Fun is okay but do we possess wit that is actually full of rizz?Our highly intelligent brain needs good brain food, better relaxation and thrill than whatever skibidi toilet brings. Chaithanya provides some pointers to battle brain rot below.Battle brain rot guideA neuropsychologist’s adviceIs my algorithm recommending brain rot worthy content (monitor algorithm)Try to focus on one activity at a time (sustained attention)Move your body (physical exercise)Screentime and night time bed are not good friendsHealthy balanced diet (eat right feel bright)Learn something new: a new choreo, new lyricsInteract more with people outside of screen