Does “Brain Rot” Content Affect Kids’ Development? What Teens Should Know

Question: Is that very common meme nowadays known as "Italian brain rot" good or bad for a child's development? 

Answer: Thank you for this question! With how quickly social media changes, it can be hard to know if new trends could be harmful to you and your friends. To start, it might be helpful if we define the terms ‘brain rot’ and ‘Italian brain rot’.  

• Brain rot: A decline of a person’s mental or intellectual state after consuming too much low-quality or unchallenging content or material, often on social media. The Oxford English Dictionary named ‘brain rot’ the 2024 word of the year. 
• Italian brain rot: A subgenre of ‘brain rot’ that emerged around January 2025. This content is AI-generated, often shows up as a “meme,” and appears to be for entertainment purposes only. Most of the time, the memes show a combination of an animal or human with an inanimate object. (For example, the meme “Ballerina Cappuccina” depicts a ballerina with a cappuccino for a head). The memes might also use Italian stereotypes or nonsensical audio that appears to use Italian accents, but the memes are not exclusive to Italy.  

Is ‘Brain Rot’ bad? 

Because these are relatively new trends in social media use, there is not a lot of research on them and their impact on child development.  

The little research that exists focuses mostly on ‘brain rot’ rather than on ‘Italian brain rot’ specifically. One study that interviewed college students found these students associate viewing ‘brain rot’ content with reduced productivity, poorer concentration, impaired decision-making, worse academic performance, and social isolation. The students suggested using self-regulation strategies, such as exercise, mindfulness, or monitoring use of media to decrease the impacts of ‘brain rot’. 

Because there is not a lot of research on ‘brain rot’, we can look instead at other related ideas, like problematic media use or information overload from social media, to think about how ‘brain rot’ may affect brain development. 

• A recent review of research on topics that are related to ‘brain rot’, such as problematic media use and excessive screen time found that excessive media use may contribute to cognitive declines (such as making it harder to concentrate) or feelings of cognitive overload, which is when the brain is overwhelmed by so much information it can’t process it all well. For more on problematic media use, check out this portal response.  
• Another study found that when college students were overloaded with information they viewed online, they were more likely to feel fatigued or mentally exhausted from their social media use. Students who experience social media fatigue are more likely to experience cognitive declines or shorter attention spans, which can have negative effects on academic performance. However, self-control or self-regulation strategies can reduce the negative effects of information overload and social media fatigue. Examples of strategies may include monitoring your social media use using apps or timers, or stepping away from social media and reaching out to friends or family in real life. 

Tips for Avoiding ‘Brain Rot’ 

Although there isn’t much research specifically on ‘brain rot’, there are still strategies you can use to help you make safe and healthy choices about your social media use, which can help you avoid ‘brain rot’. Here are some things to consider: 

• Social media has both benefits and risks for teens. For a more comprehensive review of social media benefits, check out this portal question or infographic. We recommend that you use social media in ways that benefit you and align within your goals, such as using social media to maintain connections with friends or build connections with other people who share the same interests and experiences.  
• Social media can be used for entertainment. It seems like ‘Italian Brain Rot’ is meant to be entertaining, similar to other funny memes. It’s okay to use social media for entertainment, but it is important to monitor what content you are viewing and how viewing that content makes you feel. Be sure to regularly check in with yourself and how you’re feeling when you use social media. 
• The quality of content matters. Being able to tell the difference between AI-generated content and real content is a valuable skill. AI-generated content is not real, and this type of content could be low-quality. Try to focus on viewing high-quality content that makes you feel good. Step away from media if you feel like you are viewing or scrolling for too long, especially if it’s mostly low-quality content.   
• Self-regulation strategies and other tools that help you cope with stress can provide an alternative to scrolling. Self-regulation strategies, such as monitoring your media use through apps on your device or the use of timers, exercising, or meditating, may help you avoid ‘brain rot’.  

Resources 

Check out some of these resources to help you navigate social media use: 

• The 5 Cs of Media Use is a resource you can use to evaluate your media use and whether you are using media in a way that meets your goals and benefits you. Two “C’s” that are particularly important when thinking about ‘brain rot’ include Content and Crowding Out. As already suggested, try to focus your time on high-quality Content. If your media use is “Crowding Out” other important health behaviors in a way that negatively impacts you, try to step away from media and crowd back in important behaviors, such as exercise or socializing with friends in-person.    
• The Calm Toolbox is a resource that offers alternative ways to cope with stress outside of media and technology. Consider using the Calm Toolbox if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the content you are viewing or if you find you keep turning to social media or screens to deal with stress. 
• The Glossary of Digital Media Platforms can help you better understand media platforms and manage your personal settings. Take a look at the different platforms you use to see if there are strategies or settings to help you have a more positive online experience, such as getting “nudges” to take a break from scrolling. 

References 

• Dinu, A., Florescu, A. M., Micluța-Câmpeanu, M., Tăbușcă, Ș. A., Creangă, C., & Mihail, A. (2025, September). Dissonant Ballerinas and Crafty Carrots: A Comparative Multi-modal Analysis of Italian Brain Rot. In Proceedings of the Eleventh Italian Conference on Computational Linguistics (CLiC-it 2025) (pp. 397-407). Dissonant Ballerinas and Crafty Carrots: A Comparative Multi-modal Analysis of Italian Brain Rot 
• Özbay, Ö. (2026). ‘Brain Rot’ Among University Students in the Digital Age: A Phenomenological Study. Current Psychiatry Reports, 28(1), 11.   
• Riesco, H. S., & Goering, C. Z. (2025). Italian Brain Rot and Skibidi Toilets: Students’ Joyful Literacies in an ELA Space. English Journal, 114(6), 23-31.  
• Wang, X., Zhao, X., & Yu, C. (2025). The influence of information and social overload on academic performance: the role of social media fatigue, cognitive depletion, and self-control. Revista de Psicodidáctica (English ed.), 500164.   
• Yilmaz, E., & Aktürk, A. (2025). Brain rot: A scale development study. Research on Education and Psychology, 9(1), 5-28.   
• Yousef, A. M. F., Alshamy, A., Tlili, A., & Metwally, A. H. S. (2025). Demystifying the new dilemma of brain rot in the digital era: A review. Brain Sciences, 15(3), 283.  

Age: 10-17 

Topics: Italian brain rot, brain rot, child development, memes  

Role: Adolescent