Culture "Brain Rot" — Named, Measured, Studied

Oxford named "brain rot" its Word of the Year 2024 after a 230% surge in usage — defined as the deterioration of one's mental state from overconsuming trivial online content. The term (coined by Thoreau in 1854) now anchors peer-reviewed research: a 2025 rapid review across PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science examined links between low-quality digital content, doomscrolling and declines in attention, memory and critical thinking among young people. The flip side of algorithmic "slop": the displacement of human creativity by infinitely generable, low-value content.