Questão de Inglês — Substituição de Palavras e Reescrita de Frases (Inglês) — VUNESP 2026

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In 2024, “brain rot”¹ was crowned Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year, a term which captured concerns about the impact of consuming “excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media.” Now, a recent study confirms that brain rot is not only real and more than a side-effect: it’s a real neurocognitive syndrome that causes measurable damage.

The study directly connects short-form video content from algorithm-driven platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts to brain rot. Researchers analyzed data from 98,299 participants across 71 studies and discovered that the more short-form content a person watches, the poorer cognitive performance they had when it comes to attention and inhibitory control.

The study states: “According to this framework, repeated exposure to highly stimulating, fast-paced content may contribute to habituation, a process in which users become less sensitive to slower, more challenging cognitive tasks such as reading, problem solving, or deep learning.”

Habituation stimulates the brain’s reward system which, according to the study, reinforces habitual use, which can lead to “social isolation, lower life satisfaction, and even self-esteem and body image.” As if that wasn’t bad enough, increased use of the platforms is also tied to poorer sleep, increased anxiety, and loneliness.

In short, excessive exposure to low-quality digital content has a noticeable impact on how the brain functions. The more people watch shorts on platforms like TikTok, the more their attention span² is diminished, impacting their mental health and critical thinking in the process.

DAVID MOURIQUAND. www.euronews.com, 24.11.2025. Adaptado.

¹brain rot: “apodrecimento do cérebro”; refere-se à danificação do estado mental de uma pessoa.

²attention span: capacidade de concentração.