Learning via short videos impairs memory accuracy and reduces brain synchrony

The rapid rise of short videos (SVs), particularly social media-style formats characterized by rapid switching and fragmented content, has led to their increasing integration into learning environments. However, their efficacy and neurocognitive impact remain contentious. The present study examined whether SVs are superior or inferior to long videos as tools for learning and memory. Across three experiments, memory performance and forgetting rate were assessed under both incidental and intentional encoding conditions, and inter-subject correlation (ISC) analysis was employed to investigate neural response patterns during SV viewing. Behaviorally, participants learning with SVs showed significantly lower immediate memory accuracy across encoding conditions and exhibited a higher rate of forgetting when explicitly instructed to remember. At the neural level, ISC analyses revealed that SVs elicited reduced neural synchrony in key brain regions supporting visuospatial attention, episodic memory, and cognitive control, including the superior parietal lobule, precuneus, and middle occipital gyrus. In contrast, SVs evoked higher synchrony in temporal and frontal regions associated with bottom-up attentional processing. Furthermore, functional connectivity analyses indicated that SVs weakened coupling between visual, attentional, and cognitive control networks. Together, these findings suggest that the fragmented and rapidly switching nature of typical social media short videos enhances bottom-up attentional capture at the expense of top-down cognitive processes critical for deep learning and long-term memory consolidation. This study provides converging neurobehavioral evidence suggesting that SVs viewing in social media contexts is associated with reduced neural synchronization and poorer memory performance.