Introduction

A new study from Zhejiang University, published in NeuroImage this year, shows what short-video platforms do to the brain’s control systems while you watch. As a psychiatrist, I see these effects in session every week. Here is what science says.

The study

Researchers scanned the brains of 56 young adults while they watched short videos. Ordinary content: pets, people, games, everyday clips, the same kind of thing in everyone’s feed.

They focused on two brain regions that help you control your behavior. Together, these regions notice when something feels off, weigh whether an action is worth it, and send the signal to stop.

Participants watched two types of videos. Some they liked enough to finish, and some they disliked and skipped partway through.

What they found

When people watched a video they liked, their brain’s control system went quiet. Not bored. Not tired. Actively turned down.

This was not simple zoning out. People were still paying attention. They kept actively skipping videos they did not like more than half the time. The quieting only happened during videos that pulled them in.

The opposite happened with videos people disliked and skipped. Their brain’s control system stayed more active. In plain terms, it took more brain effort to stop watching than to keep watching.

The study also looked at a brain chemical called glutamate, which helps keep the control system switched on. People with higher resting levels of it showed less shutdown while watching. This may explain why some people find it easier to pull away than others. This part of the finding is preliminary. The study group was young and mostly male, and it cannot tell us what causes what, only that the two are linked.

One more finding: the two control regions became more in sync while they watched videos they liked. That might sound like more self-control, but the researchers think the opposite is true. Emotional brain circuits may be quieting both regions together. Less like a team working in coordination, more like two systems being shut off at the same time.

Why these matters

This is not a study about addiction, and it did not measure who has a problem with short videos. It does not prove that watching short videos causes lasting changes to the brain.

What it does show clearly is this: the part of the brain responsible for saying "stop" goes quiet at exactly the moment you are most drawn in and least likely to want to stop.

I hear a version of this often, especially from parents of teenagers and from adults who lose track of time scrolling. The usual explanation is a lack of discipline. This research points to something different. These platforms are built to hold attention, and they may be working with the brain’s own wiring to do it, not against a person’s character.

What you can do with this

Because the shutdown happens once you are already absorbed, trying to stop mid-scroll is working against your own brain chemistry at its weakest moment. The better window is before you start. A short pause before opening the app. A simple plan for how long or what you are looking for. This works with your brain rather than against it because the control system is still switched on before you begin.

This is one study, and a well-designed one, but not the final word. Larger and more varied studies will need to confirm it. Even so, it offers something useful right now: a science-based reason to stop blaming willpower and start paying attention to the moment right before the scroll begins.

Reference: Hong T, Su C, Zhou H, Geng F, Hu Y. Brain activity inhibition during short video viewing: neurochemical insights. NeuroImage. 2026;327:121722.

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This blog is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered as any professional advice. Please consult with the respective professional for any specific advice related to your situation.

Location: United States of America

Media Contact: Harsh Golani