Infinite scrolling on digital devices lowers the brain's base level of dopamine.
Posted by REAL AF with Andy Frisella, Checked
- Sources
- 8 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 30%
REAL AF with Andy FrisellaOct 28, 2026
None of the provided sources states that infinite scrolling lowers the brain's baseline dopamine level. The sources describe dopamine spikes, anticipation, and reward loops from scrolling, and one (source 6) says technology addiction rewires the brain to expect higher dopamine, which points the opposite way without addressing baseline.
What was said
… They can't imagine that because they always have a phone to figure everything out. So very quickly, I recently saw a study which was talking about how we have cheap dopamine with infinite scrolling, right? So not only it gives you that fake dopamine, but also your brain brings down your base level of dopamine, so any anything that used to give you good dopamine, like in real physical world, would not give you that hit anymore. …
REAL AF with Andy Frisella · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Context. Several sources describe infinite scrolling as producing dopamine surges or spikes above baseline (e.g., apps raising dopamine up to 50 percent above baseline), which addresses short-term responses rather than a lowered resting level.[3][4]
Context. Coverage of infinite scrolling focuses on reward anticipation, variable-ratio reinforcement, and cognitive or mental-health outcomes, without reporting any measured decrease in baseline dopamine.[1][2][5][6][7]
Context. One source says technology addiction rewires the brain to expect higher dopamine, which is not a direct statement about baseline levels and does not settle the claim either way.[8]
Context. The claim matches the post's paraphrase of a study the speaker said they saw, but the post names no study and the speaker's own words cannot corroborate the claim.
Sources
8 sources: 2 primary, 1 tier 2, 5 not rated
- 1Taming the endless scroll? Short-form videos, digital ...pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 2A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the cognitive and ...pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 3Smartphones, Social Media, And AI Are Chemically Altering Our Brainsforbes.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 4Why do I have technology addiction in the first place? - Eureka Healtheurekahealth.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 5On the Algorithmic Loops of Infinite Scrollingcab.unime.it · not rated · cited for: context
- 6What does ‘infinite scrolling' on phones do to our brains?thenewstribune.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 7Digital Overload: Attention, Dopamine, and Well-Beinglawyersmutualnc.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 8What is 'bloomscrolling'? The social media trend flipping doomscrollingrmb.reuters.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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