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- Posted July 22, 2026
TV Does Indeed Rot Your Brain, Study Says
It just so happens your mother’s warnings were on the mark — TV does indeed rot your brain, a new study says.
Heavy TV watching is associated with increased shrinkage in areas of the brain connected with memory and thinking, researchers reported recently in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
The brain shrinkage wasn’t just due to being a couch potato, either, as other types of sedentary behavior weren’t linked to smaller brain volume, researchers said.
“We frequently encourage the public not to spend too much time sitting down, but experts may want to expand that recommendation to encompass the activities done while sitting, since those seem to have distinct impacts on brain health,” lead researcher Natan Feter said in a news release. He’s a postdoctoral scholar in the Human and Evolutionary Biology program at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles.
For the new study, researchers analyzed data from about 1,700 people who participated in a long-term study of heart and brain health. The participants, average age 53, were recruited between 1987 and 1989.
As part of the study, people were asked about their TV-watching habits. They also were given brain MRI scans.
Results showed that people who watched TV “very often” had widespread structural differences in their brains compared to those who “seldom” or “never” watched.
The team discovered shrinkage in brain areas associated with early signs of Alzheimer’s disease. They also found more white matter damage, which has been associated with cognitive decline and dementia.
These differences remained even after researchers accounted for other factors like physical activity, diabetes, smoking, drinking and body mass index (BMI). BMI is an estimate of body fat based on height and weight.
Interestingly, it wasn’t sitting around while watching TV that appeared to cause these brain changes, researchers said.
People who said they sat around a lot at work had larger brain volumes and less white matter damage than those who sat to watch loads of TV, researchers found.
Men appeared to be particularly vulnerable to TV brain rot. When the MRI scans were separated by sex, most of the observed changes to the brain were seen in men, researchers said.
Researchers said rather than just directing patients to move more, doctors might also want to recommend less television time. Even better, people who are sitting around should consider swapping TV time for other activities that stimulate the brain.
“For years we’ve focused on how much people sit. Our findings suggest we should also pay attention to what they’re doing while they’re sitting,” senior researcher David Raichlen, a professor of biological sciences and anthropology at USC, said in a news release.
More information
The Cleveland Clinic has more on TV bingeing and health.
SOURCE: University of Southern California, news release, July 17, 2026
