Binge-scrolling and its implications for our dopamine levels

Written by: Jacinda Taggett

Edited by: Kierstin Burt

Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. Endless scrolling. One or two seconds per image, video, or caption, then onto the next. I had grown up right when technology began its boom in the early-to-mid 2000s. In elementary school I loved watching movies in my free time. In middle school it was YouTube videos. High school began the Vine era. Finally, the latest trend of TikTok videos and Instagram Reels has plagued every social media platform possible. I think science communicators so far have done a good job at saying “too much dopamine is bad! We’re hurting our attention spans!” But does anyone really know why? If you asked someone why they spend less than one second on a TikTok video, they’ll likely just jokingly respond “my dopamine receptors are fried.” I guess that’s true in some sense…

What is “binge-scrolling” really?

Not to be confused with “doomscrolling,” the term binge-scrolling refers to the act of engaging in compulsive viewing of short-form digital content over extended, unplanned, periods of time. Think of platforms such as TikTok and Instagram that have now introduced the “infinite scroll” of their videos and feeds.

You open up your phone to check a notification, then suddenly it’s been 3 hours later and you’ve been scrolling through your social media timelines. Why does this happen?

Neuroscience of Reward and Uncertainty

In order to understand binge-scrolling, you have to look into the brain regions known for reward and uncertainty– the dopamine pathways. Primarily we are looking at the mesolimbic pathway, which allows for motivation, action, and obviously reward! Whenever you engage with a funny, entertaining, or interesting piece of social media content, dopamine from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) projects to the ventral striatum. This process allows you to feel extra motivated and excited for the next piece of media. Then when you decide to scroll to the next video or infographic, your brain sends dopamine to the prefrontal cortex through the mesocortical pathway– essential for the evaluation of consequences.

In decision-making psychology, we have the term “reward prediction error” that alludes to the act

of dopaminergic activity from certain events, such as TikTok scrolling, influencing our behavior later on. It goes as follows:

• Unexpected Reward: You get a dopamine “boost” from watching a video that you were not intending to find amusing.

• Expected Reward: You scroll expecting a funny or interesting video to follow, so your brain increases dopamine in anticipation rather than the actual reward.

• Negative Prediction Error: You continue to scroll through your feed, and therefore get the dopaminergic pleasure from scrolling– but the dopamine activity in your brain decreases after experiencing a sad or disheartening video.

Through this paradigm, social media has been able to hijack our reward systems by alternating between happy, sad, neutral videos. You always get the boost from scrolling, and the negative prediction error from videos you disliked are keeping you wanting more!

Consequences and implications

This phenomenon of binge-scrolling has detrimental implications on the mental wellbeing of our current and future generations. With every instance of instant scrolling, you are eliciting quick, repetitive, and rewarding behaviors, leading to a hijacked version of the dopaminergic regions of the brain. Thus, individuals that are binge-scrolling are in fact developing addictive behaviors and will therefore have similar neurological consequences (Ogun, 2025). The anticipation of the next scroll is more exciting and rewarding than the actual content itself (Shivam et al., 2023) leading this experience to be excessive forms of short dopamine bursts. Neurologically, this has implications for the dopamine receptors in our brain to become less effective primarily in cognitive functioning. We expect to see in the long-term poorer memory (Nguyen et al., 2025), weakened attention spans (Atienza et al., 2025), instability with mood and anxiety (Yousef et al., 2025), and the inability to perceive time (Fung et al., 2021).

Future directions

In terms of early intervention, there should be more emphasis in our communities about long-term, low-dopamine activities. This can include reading, going outside, and engaging in social interactions. Policy makers and public health professionals need to advocate for better social media practices, as the introduction of short-form content has made this phenomenon exponentially worse in conjunction with the natural progression of social media reliance.

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References

Atienza, Justin & Perez, Ynnos Lincoln & Quinto, Loraine Mae. (2025). A Mixed Methods Study on Binge-Scrolling Behavior, Attention, and Memory Retention in Young Adults. 10.13140/RG.2.2.27820.53126.

Ogun, D. (2025). Neurobiological and behavioral correlates of excessive social media use in adolescents: Impact of social media use on adolescents. Journal of Surgery and Medicine, 9(10), 199–206. https://doi.org/10.28982/josam.8211

Fung, B. J., Sutlief, E., & Hussain Shuler, M. G. (2021). Dopamine and the interdependency of time perception and reward. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 125, 380–391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.02.030

Nguyen, L., Walters, J., Paul, S., Monreal Ijurco, S., Rainey, G. E., Parekh, N., Blair, G., & Darrah, M. (2025). Feeds, feelings, and focus: A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the cognitive and mental health correlates of short-form video use.Psychological Bulletin, 151(9), 1125–1146. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000498

Shivam Kalhan, Garrido, M. I., Hester, R., & A. David Redish. (2023). Reward prediction-errors weighted by cue salience produces addictive behaviours in simulations, with asymmetrical learning and steeper delay discounting. Neural Networks, 168, 631–651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neunet.2023.09.032

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. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15030283