By Judy George
Source Medpagetoday
By many accounts, 2024 was a year of brain health, with researchers reporting ways to improve infant neurodevelopmentopens in a new tab or window and identifying new factors to protect the brainopens in a new tab or window as it ages.
For the publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary, however, 2024 was the year of brain rot.
“Brain rot” is a term that describes either the cause or effect of spending hours online viewing trivial information. It communicates concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media, Oxford University Press language experts said.
After first gaining traction on TikTok, its use surged by 230% between 2023 and 2024, they pointed out. Following a public vote involving more than 37,000 people, “brain rot” was deemed the 2024 Oxford Word of the Yearopens in a new tab or window.
“I find it fascinating that the term brain rot has been adopted by Gen Z and Gen Alpha, those communities largely responsible for the use and creation of the digital content the term refers to,” President of Oxford Languages Casper Grathwohl said in a statement.
Read more https://www.medpagetoday.com/neurology/generalneurology/113265