‘TikTok brain’ from short-video addiction affects mood, learning and memory, study shows

Anyone who has taken offence after being accused of having “TikTok brain” should stop reading now – if they have not already done so.

Research shows that their incessant flicking through video clips on social media comes with a price: “cognitive deficits”.

According to scientists at China’s Tianjin Normal University and the University of California, Los Angeles in the United States, people with short-video addiction not only show “compulsive and uncontrolled use of short-video platforms”, they also appear to be developing a different brain morphology or structure compared to others.

People with this addiction tend to “excessively consume personalised content to the extent that it negatively interferes with other activities”, the team said.