A September review of 71 studies with a total of nearly 100,000 participants found that heavy consumption of short-form video was associated with poorer cognition, especially in regard to attention spans and impulse control, based on a combination of behavioral tests and self-reported data.
The review, published in Psychological Bulletin, a journal of the American Psychological Association, also found links between heavy consumption of the videos and increased symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress and loneliness.

“Objectively, the connections [in the caudate-putamen] are real (note that Dr. Green is a trained forensic neurologist). What these connectivity patterns mean in relation to intuition and cognitive function will need to involve neurological studies that involve disciplines of neurophysiology such as functional MRI and more”

But if depression is truly able to disconnect this circuit, what does it mean? “One possibility,” the scientists suggested, “is that the uncoupling of this circuit could be associated with impaired ability to control and learn from social or other situations that provoke feelings of hate toward self or others. This in turn could lead to an inability to deal appropriately with feelings of hate and an increased likelihood of both uncontrolled self-loathing and withdrawal from social interactions.” This agrees with the finding that depressed individuals usually have difficulty controlling negative thoughts.