Brain Rot: Is there any proof your phone is destroying your attention span?
In episode one of Brain Rot, we're doing our best to focus on the topic of attention for a full 25 minutes — and find out what's actually happening in your brain every time your phone buzzes or dings.
Is brain rot a real thing? Or just another moral panic?
And how do you know when your own screen use has gone too far?
Brain Rot is a new five part series from the ABC's Science Friction about how tech is changing our brains, hosted by Ange Lavoipierre.
Guests:
Anna Seirian
CEO, Internet People
Dr Mark Williams
Professor, Macquarie University; Cognitive neuroscientist
Michoel Moshel
Clinical Neuropsychologist Registrar; Phd Candidate, Macquarie University
Professor Marion Thain
Professor of Culture and Technology, University of Edinburgh; Director, Edinburgh Futures Institute
Credits:
Presenter: Ange Lavoipierre
Presenter: Ange Lavoipierre Producer: Fiona Pepper
Producer: Fiona Pepper Senior Producer: James Bullen
Senior Producer: James Bullen
Sound Engineer: Brendan O'Neill
This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal and Menang Noongar peoples.
More information:
Neuropsychological Deficits in Disordered Screen Use Behaviours: A Systematic Review and Meta‑Analysis - Neuropsychology Review, 2024.
Do we have your attention? How people focus and live in the modern information environment - King's College London, 2022.
Internet addiction-induced brain structure and function alterations: a systematic review and meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry and resting-state functional connectivity studies - Brain Imaging and Behavior, 2023.
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