Why repeatedly watching short videos can produce negative changes in the nervous system

Santo Domingo, RD / ICNS.- Short video platforms such as Tiktok, Instagram Rails and YouTube Shortcuts encourage the use of inspiring images that can be converted to Pat...

Santo Domingo, RD/ ICNS: - Short video platforms such as TikTok, Instagram strips, and YouTube shorts encourage immediate audiovisual consumption that can turn into addictive usage patterns.Hence its design and success.The structure of these platforms generates the dynamics of signals and stimulus-response processes that create the conditioning process of the nervous system.

Neurobiologically, this process of immediate gratification is close to the stimulation induced by gambling that causes compulsive use.The biggest concern is that, given the adaptive nature of the brain, this repetitive activity may cause chronic changes in neural processing through neuroplasticity, particularly in the developing nervous system, but also in adults.

Digital platforms start from analyzing the user's use to increase engagement, engagement and retention, the design of fast tapping, quick response, unique algorithms based on the user, etc. The neuropsychological process of natural gratification is characterized by immediacy, interest in new things, low tolerance for delayed gratification, and difficulty listening similar to other patterns of addiction that have been called "TikTok brain."

Some studies have shown that prolonged use of short video platforms reduces analytical work.Especially when the content is emotional and fast-paced.This indicates increased automatic processing and thicker cortical circuits involved in thinking.This indicates that the brain's impulse response system is strong and able to shape responses at the neural level over time.

On the other hand, the cognitive load of these platforms may saturate the limited capacity of working memory, which is overloaded with multiple and rapid stimuli (scene changes, music, simultaneous text, transitions, feedback signals, interactions, etc.), impairing sustained attention and deep analysis in favor of attentional processing reconfigured to immediate signals and responses.

At a neurobiological level, these videos and the signals associated with them from the platform act as stimuli, promoting the release of dopamine through a cycle of attention to the stimulus, physical activation, desire, initiation of behavioral responses (association) and ultimately pleasure (funny videos, gossip, etc.).

This reinforces the ongoing cycle of consumption, maintaining compulsive visualization and seeking new stimuli mediated by dopamine peaks.It makes neuroadaptation, the organization of neurons suitable for short-term prompt response to stimuli.

Many users report immediate pleasure, reduced stress, and a temporary improvement in mood, but the short-term results diminish the ability to develop sustainable cognitive coping mechanisms.

Neuroanatomy and function

Executive functions are high-level processes that allow you to plan, prevent automatic responses, maintain sustained attention, and change strategies when necessary.These skills are largely dependent on the prefrontal cortex, where the dorsolateral region plays an important role, coordinating working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility.Executive functions have significant genetic heritability and are not fully developed until adulthood.This means that there are people who are genetically more advanced.vulnerable to stimulating signals than others, and furthermore that children and adolescents are also more vulnerable because they do not have sufficiently developed functions.

Several studies conducted with college students have shown that students who consume more short videos have more difficulty in tasks that require long-term concentration, time management, and mental regulation.In addition, participants who were more addicted to these types of platforms made more errors in the sustained attention task and showed greater inter-individual differences in reaction time.The observed hyperactivation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and cerebellum does not translate into better performance, but rather into an overload of the executive system.

On the other hand, the effect of the nervous system is controlled by symptoms.For users with high ratings of impulsivity, novelty seeking, or low tolerance for loneliness, neurocognitive outcomes are better.The most relevant symptom is behavioral envy, which is defined as a stable tendency to feel discomfort when faced with the success of others.Another study found that this symptom predicted greater addiction to short videos, mediated by activation of regions involved in self-referential and emotional processing, such as the posterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex.This suggests that compulsive consumption is not limited to pleasure-seeking, but is a response to ineffective social comparisons.

Structural neuroimaging studies have found changes in the orbitofrontal cortex in users who have difficulty using short videos.In particular, an increase in gray volume has been observed in this area, as well as in the cerebellum of the two countries, which is involved in decision-making, impulse control and cognitive control.The increase may reflect a compensatory process of neuroplasticity or structural hyperactivation caused by repeated dopaminergic reinforcement associated with the most stimulating content on the platform.

At the functional level, an increase was observed in resting areas such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, cerebellum and posterior temporal cortex, all of which are related to performance and emotional control.This increase may indicate an increased need for self-control or to compensate for performance deficits.In addition, the study of the brain connection shows the correct implementation of the reconstruction: networks involved in executive functions such as frontoparietal, they can show activation or activation, while the default network can be activated more during the rest period.

Some recent transcriptomic approaches have identified overexpression of genes active during adolescence and in brain excitatory neurons, indicating a specific vulnerability during this developmental stage.These results suggest that the effects extend beyond the functional level to the structural and molecular level.However, it is important to understand the methodological limitations inherent in most of these studies: the vast majority are non-experimental, cross-sectional and self-reported designs, and are based on many confounding factors (sleep duration, etc.).Therefore, although neuropathological mechanisms are well established, causality cannot be inferred in most of these studies.

Conclusion, clinical relevance and social implications

The easiest way to describe the nervous system is to understand it as an adaptive system, which suggests that neurons configure themselves according to the stimuli they receive and the work they need to do, especially in childhood and adolescence.If the brain continues to receive multiple and rapid stimuli, it is reconfigured to respond to this type of stimuli impulsively.If the brain is working on tasks of sustained attention and deep thinking, it reorganizes itself to increase its efficiency in tasks of sustained attention and deep thinking.This affects the development of intelligence, executive control, the ability to have goals and long-term goals that are important to a person's life, etc.

Short videos are not neutral formats and only show a change in consumption style, but a deep reconfiguration of attentional systems, reward circuits and executive functions.Certain developmental stages, such as adolescence, and certain psychological profiles, such as people with high impulsivity or a greater tendency toward jealousy, lead to increased vulnerability to negative influences.In these cases, functional reorganization is observed that reinforces impulsivity, immediate gratification, and fragmented attention.

Immediate and repeated audiovisual rewards can cause neurological changes that impair the ability to represent long-term goals that are important to the person.

But it also affects the ability to control emotions, the formation of personal identity, social skills, etc.If this logic of immediate renewal is combined as a primary means of gratification and emotional abuse, cognitive, contact and behavioral profiles that dominate in the short term are established.

The loss of inhibitory control, an important component of high achievement, affects academic performance, emotional regulation, and inhibition of problem behavior.This interferes not only with individual and intellectual independence, but also with integration into educational, work and social situations.However, it becomes more difficult to control the use of any digital structure placed on people.

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