A brain that jumps from one task to another like corn grains in a saucepan: the image of “popcorn brain” illustrates the growing difficulty in maintaining its attention in the face of the digital surge. Notifications, videos, instant messages … This constant stimulation weakens our ability to remain focused and worried researchers as parents.
Popcorn Brain, when our brain jumps from one screen to another
The term “Popcorn Brain” means this brain trend to constantly pass from information to information, like the popcorn grains that break out in all directions. Result: attention disperses and concentration becomes difficult to hold.
The figures illustrate this reality. According to the Junior Connect study, young French people aged 13 to 19 have an average of three personal screens. Children under 6 already spend six hours a week online, while 7-12 year olds spend nine hours there and adolescents for almost 6 p.m. Globally, Digital Report 2024 published by We are socially And Meltwater reveals that an internet user spends an average of 6 hours and 40 minutes a day on the Internet, three minutes more than a year earlier.
Alarming studies and figures on attention
The consequences are measurable. A Japanese study of 2023, published in the journal Jama Pediatrics And conducted with 7,097 children, established a link between screen time at the age of one and development delays detected to two and four years. These delays concern communication, global and fine motor skills, problem solving as well as personal and social skills.
Researchers also observe a collapse in the average duration of attention. Gloria Mark, professor emeritus of computer science at the University of Irvine in California, recalls: “My first article on this subject was published in 2004 from a study conducted in 2003. We found that the duration of attention on the screens was on average two and a half minutes“. She adds:”If we consider all the studies carried out between 2016 and 2020, just before the start of the pandemic, this average amounts to 47 seconds, which constitutes a very clear difference“.
An observation shared by families: according to a survey Ifop Made in February 2024 for the Foundation for Children, 70 % of parents of elderly children up to 6 years old believe that screens have a strong impact on their development.
Why screens so well capture our mind
To explain this phenomenon, Gloria Mark insists on the mechanics of rewards: our brain is constantly seeking immediate gratuity. The screens, saturated with attractive signals, offer continuous stimulation which it becomes difficult to do without. “”I call it ‘attention traps’ because they are engaging, gratifying … and it is very easy to fall into it! We found that when people go to Tiktok and find a hilarious video, they want to stay there because they are looking for the next hilarious video. And it is much more rewarding than doing the cleaning or something else. This is the trap“She explains in an article from the University of California.
This permanent quest for novelty and distraction transforms our uses. Where the sustained concentration required an effort, the screens now impose a flow of quick and attractive information, which reshape our relationship to everyday attention.