Where did our attention spans go, and can we get them back? – Full Story podcast | Psychology

The Oxford English Dictionary announced its word of the year at the end of 2024: “brain rot.” The term relates to the supposed negative effects of consuming social media content, but it has struck a chord aloud more broadly with many of us who feel we don’t have the mental capacity we once did. Gloria Marka professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, has been studying our declining attention for 20 years. Troy Madeleine Finlay Why she believes our powers of focus are beyond the rescue, and reveals her top tips for finding focus