Pallavi Gera
She hold a bachelor’s degree in Audiology and Speech Language Pathology from the Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for Speech and Language disabilities, (Divyangjan), Mumbai.
After that she did her masters in Psychology.. Registered professional under Rehabilitation Council of India.
Her aim is to create and promote awareness regarding speech, language, cognitive and hearing issues and to provide such services. She has been working in a medical college since 15 years , all these years she has done her bit for the people dealing with Speech,Language, cognitive and hearing issues and still continuing.
E-mail : pallavi.aslp@gmail.com
For most people, the term “brain rot” is a meme — a dramatic way to describe the glazed-over feeling after an hour of scrolling TikTok or YouTube Shorts.
But from the perspective of a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP), the phenomenon behind it is not a joke at all.
What worries me isn’t grey matter decay — it’s something quieter, subtler, and far more widespread:
a measurable decline in the core communication skills young people need to learn, think, socialize, and thrive.
In my clinic and school consultations, I’m witnessing a shift in how children, adolescents, and young adults express themselves. And that shift aligns closely with a lifestyle increasingly dominated by hyper-short, high-dopamine content.
Not a disease.
Not permanent damage.
But underdeveloped, under-practiced communication pathways — the very skills speech-language pathologists specialize in.
A New Communication Profile Is Emerging
Young people aren’t speaking less because they are unmotivated or uninterested. Their communication environment has changed dramatically, and their brains adapt accordingly.
As an SLP, here are the patterns I see most often in heavy short-form content users:
1. Weak Expressive Language Skills
Many teens struggle with:
Formulating detailed sentences
Adding descriptive information
Using precise vocabulary
Holding onto an idea long enough to expand it
Their speech mirrors the content they consume:
brief, fragmented, fast, and emotionally flat.
2. Reduced Narrative Ability
Narrative language is essential for academics, social interaction, and problem-solving.
But more clients now struggle to:
Tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end
Summarize an event coherently
Sequence ideas logically
Short-form content trains the brain to process quickly — not deeply.
3. Decline in Pragmatic (Social) Communication
SLPs specialize in social language — the subtle skills that make conversations smooth and meaningful.
I now commonly see:
n Trouble reading facial expressions
Difficulty maintaining a topic
Less eye contact
Abrupt or awkward conversational shifts
Reliance on emojis or slang instead of emotional vocabulary
This is not “antisocial behavior.”
It is reduced practice with complex face-to-face skills.
4. Shrinking Auditory Attention
Perhaps the most striking shift:
Young clients increasingly struggle to listen.
They ask for repetition more often.
They lose track of multi-step directions.
They tune out during explanations longer than 30 seconds.
Not because they can’t — but because the brain is being conditioned to expect novelty every few seconds.
Screens Aren’t the Enemy — Lost Interaction Is
Speech and language skills grow through:
Turn-Taking
Shared Attention
Emotional Labeling
Co-regulated Conversation
Storytelling
Play
Real-time feedback
Short-form content provides none of these.
The result?
A generation communicating in quick reactions rather than rich expressions.
Not because their brains are damaged —
but because the communication environment has thinned out.
The Myth of “Brain Rot” — and the Reality Behind It
The phrase “brain rot” is sensational and medically inaccurate.But the concern that constant scrolling can weaken language pathways is valid.
Speech-language development is experience-dependent. If those experiences become limited to passive consumption, the brain simply invests less in skills it isn’t asked to use — such as:
Sustained Conversation
Nuanced Emotional Expression
Vocabulary Development
Storytelling
Perspective-Taking
It’s not decay — it’s disuse.
What Speech-Language Pathologists Recommend
The solution is not banning screens. It’s rebalancing communication experiences.
1. Schedule intentional “talk time”
10–15 minutes of device-free conversation daily helps rebuild expressive language.
2. Use open-ended questions
Prompts like “Tell me more about…” or “Why do you think that happened?” stretch language production.
3. Strengthen narrative skills
Ask young people to:
Retell a Movie Plot
Explain a Meme
Describe their day
Recount a funny incident
Sequencing and elaboration improve with practice.
4. Rebuild listening endurance
Try audiobooks, podcasts, or even “listen and retell” games to improve auditory processing.
5. Model emotional vocabulary
Screens give big emotions but small words.
Real dialogue restores nuance.
6. Create screen breaks that involve real interaction
Board games, shared cooking, group tasks — activities that require verbal negotiation and collaboration.
There’s Still Time — Communication Is Rebuildable
The message from speech-language pathologists is one of hope.
The human communication system is highly plastic.
Skills can be restored. Pathways can strengthen again.
Young people can absolutely recover expressive language, social communication, and attention skills — with the right environment.
“Brain rot” may be a meme.
But the erosion of communication skills is a real, growing challenge. And if we address it now, we can ensure that Gen Z and Gen Alpha don’t just scroll through life —
They will speak it, Share it, and Live it fully.
