Think twice before you open Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts the next time you’re bored.
The more you watch short-form videos on your phone, the worse your brain gets at paying attention, and the damage shows up right there in your brainwaves, a study has warned.
HOW WAS THE RISK OF REELS FOUND?
Scientists at Zhejiang University in China recruited young adults and measured their brain activity using a technique called EEG, or electroencephalography, which is essentially a cap studded with sensors that detects the electrical signals your brain produces in real time.
It’s like a live weather map of your brain.
Participants were also asked to fill out a questionnaire about how often they used short-form video platforms and whether they felt addicted to them.
They then performed what’s called an Attention Network Test (ANT). It’s a standard brain test that measures three key types of attention, including how quickly you become alert, how well you can get used to something new, and how well your brain handles conflict or distractions.
WHAT WAS FOUND ABOUT WATCHING TOO MANY REELS?
Here’s the alarming part.
People who spent more time watching short-form videos showed a detrimental impact on their attentional functions, and the EEG data revealed exactly how.
Those with stronger addictive tendencies toward short-form videos had noticeably reduced theta brainwave activity, particularly in the frontal region of the brain.
Theta brainwaves are the brain’s signal for focused, controlled thinking. These particular brainwaves are considered a key component of the brain’s ability to focus and pay attention, and they are closely tied to what scientists call executive control. The executive control is your brain’s ability to stay on task, block out distractions, resist impulses, and make thoughtful decisions.
In simpler words, this is the mental muscle that stops you from doing something you’ll regret.
When this activity drops, your brain’s ability to manage its own attention weakens. You become easier to distract, find it harder to focus, and are more likely to seek the next hit of instant stimulation. That instant stimulation is exactly what another short video provides. It’s a loop.
IS WATCHING REELS AN ADDICTION?
The study draws a striking parallel between continuous scrolling and addiction.
Previous studies on substance abuse have revealed impaired inhibitory control and a pronounced attentional bias toward cues related to the addictive substance, and investigations into behavioural addictions have also revealed disruptions in the control system governing attentional processes.
The researchers found similar patterns in heavy short-video users.
When individuals struggle with self-control and executive control, the ability to regulate thoughts and actions to achieve goals, they may experience an increased difficulty in managing appropriate consumption of short-form content, like reels.
With over 500 million users across platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and homegrown apps, the average Indian spends hours scrolling every day, and a massive chunk of that audience is youngsters and teenagers, whose brains are still developing.
The study’s findings are a serious warning. It highlights that the content we consume most casually may be chipping away at our most essential cognitive tool: our ability to focus.
Putting the phone down, even for a bit, might be the most productive thing you do today.
