Did you know Short-Form Video Consumption Alters Brain Structure, Affecting Emotions and Attention

 

Short form videos, like TikTok and Instagram reels, can be harmful for consumers as found in the new study which stated that watching short-form videos can increase our brain activity in regions linked to reward processing and emotional regulation. It is also linked to negative physical, psychological and social effects and they also contribute to reduced attention span in users. Most studies have talked about behavioral impacts of watching short-form videos but the biological and neurological effects of them are not studied in detail. Researchers from Tianjin Normal University studied the role of short form videos in reshaping our brains and genes that are influencing changes in our behavior.

For the study, the researchers gathered 111 college students between the ages of 17 and 30 who regularly used TikTok. Researchers used short form video platforms as a scale instead of smartphones, and dispositional envy was also measured in the participants to see how much resentment and distress they feel while comparing themselves to others. Researchers also used high resolution brain imaging data using MRI scans to see how short-form videos affect the participants neurologically. These scans were important to know about structural changes in the brain and functional activity in the brain.

The results showed that there were functional and structural differences in the brains of participants with more short-form video addiction, and there was an increase in gray matter volume in cerebellum and orbitofrontal cortex. These regions of the brain are important for decision making, processing and emotional regulations in an individual. The increased gray volume in these regions suggest heightened sensitivity to rewards which affects compulsive viewing behavior. The researchers also found that there was a heightened neural activity in posterior cingulate cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, cerebellum and temporal pole in terms of functionality in individuals with short-form video addiction. These activities show that not only does the brain's reward system become affected, attention and emotions of the individuals do too.

The study also highlighted that individuals with more dispositional envy were more likely to be addicted to short-form video platforms. The researchers also found 500 genes which were linked to changes in the brain due to short-form video addiction. Most of the genes were expressed during adolescents which suggests that it is a vulnerable time for individuals to become addicted to short-form videos because it can affect their behavioral patterns.