Do you feel like your brain is in “infinite scroll” mode from the moment you wake up until you go to bed? Between notifications, Reels and short videos, French people spend on average 4.6 hours per day on screens, including around 1 hour 48 minutes on social networks alone. A cocktail that fuels this famous “brain burp”, this feeling of saturated brain… and which is starting to worry researchers.
A recent study published in the scientific journal PNAS Nexus, conducted among 467 adults with an average age of around 32, looked at the effect of a two-week digital detox. The result is a result that inevitably raises eyebrows: cutting yourself off from the Internet on your phone for at least ten days would save the equivalent of ten years of cognitive decline on attention span. Enough to make you want to look at your screen differently.
Digital detox and the brain: why 10 days away from the Internet changes everything
In this experiment, volunteers used the Freedom application to block Internet access on their smartphones for 14 days. Calls and text messages were still possible, much like a basic phone, and their daily screen time went from 314 minutes to 161 minutes. The author of the study Noah Castelo also summarizes that, cited by Here.
Researchers observed marked improvements in sustained attention, mental health and overall well-being, with 91% of participants seeing at least one indicator improve. The gain in concentration roughly corresponds to what we lose over ten years of cognitive aging, on this precise measure. In other words, the brain does not get physically younger, but it begins to function like a younger person’s when it comes to staying focused.
What studies say about anxiety, depression and sleep
The good news is that these effects aren’t just about attention. A study conducted by Harvard University and published in JAMA Network Open showed that reducing smartphone use for a week reduced anxiety by 16.1%, depression by 24.8% and sleep problems by 14.5%. Clearly, turning off the wifi from time to time seems to lighten both the mood and the mental load.
Behind these changes, specialists evoke the role of dopamine, the molecule of the reward circuit. Each like or video triggers a mini “shoot”, until it creates an imbalance. For psychiatrist Anna Lembke, like playing an instrument or cooking, cited by National Geographic. She adds that: exactly the opposite of compulsive scrolling.
How to organize a 10-day digital detox without leaving everything behind
The researchers point out that not everyone experiences this break in the same way. Psychologist Paige Coyne also warns that and that. The important thing, according to her, is to set a realistic objective over ten days, particularly during the holidays.
Concretely, many start by targeting social networks on mobile rather than all screens. Specialists advise planning “slow dopamine” activities (reading, walking, gentle sports, cooking), accepting some withdrawal symptoms the first two or three days, then taking advantage of the gradual decline in the desire to scroll. Even partial adherence to the study model, with some deviations, showed measurable benefits on attention and mental health.
Digital detox: are 10 days really enough to rejuvenate the brain by 10 years?
The PNAS Nexus study lasted 14 days, but participants who lasted at least 10 days of mobile internet blocking saw an improvement in attention comparable to ten years of age-related cognitive decline. This is an effect on performance, not an anatomical rejuvenation of the brain.
Should we cut off the entire Internet or just social networks?
In the study, only Internet access on the smartphone was blocked, calls and SMS remaining possible. Many digital detox protocols mainly target social networks on mobile, while maintaining reasonable use of the computer for work.
What happens in the first days of digital detox?
The first few days are often marked by a strong desire to check the phone, anxiety or a fear of missing something. Studies show that these sensations then diminish, leading to better quality of sleep, more concentration and higher life satisfaction.
