A new brain-scan study from Zhejiang University finds that finishing short videos people enjoy temporarily deactivates key regions of the brain's cognitive control network. Published in NeuroImage in January 2026, the research used functional MRI and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to examine 56 young adults watching short clips inside an MRI scanner.

The study revealed that both the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (d ACC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dl PFC) showed significant deactivation when participants watched clips they liked enough to finish. These regions are central to cognitive control, helping people balance immediate pleasures against longer-term goals.

Researchers measured resting-state glutamate and GABA concentrations in each participant's d ACC before scanning. During the scan, participants watched two six-minute blocks of short clips averaging 23.7 seconds in length. Videos were classified based on viewing behavior: liked (watched to completion), disliked (skipped before halfway), or partially viewed.

The results showed greater suppression during liked video viewing compared to disliked viewing. The visual cortex, used as a control region, activated during both video types with no difference between them, indicating the deactivation pattern was specific to cognitive control regions. This suppression may explain why continuous short-video consumption is linked to weakened self-control and conditions like ADHD and addiction.