Study reveals that seeing series in marathon affects memory

Experts of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) They warn about two side effects of intensive platform consumption: the call “Fish memory” and the “Tunnel effect”. These two phenomena, as explained by the teacher Elena Neiraexpert in audiovisual communication, and the clinical neuropsychologist Juan Luis García Fernándezthey have both cognitive and cultural implications, since They affect memory, attention and critical capacity of the spectator.

The Fish memory refers to that feeling of Not remembering anything from the previous season of a series When a new season begins months or years later. Elena Neira, collaborating professor of the Information and Communication Sciences Studies of the UOC and researcher at the Game Group, points out that “It is a phenomenon closely linked to the premieres in block of seasons, which usually incite marathon consumption”.

Neira, interdisciplinary researcher in distribution of audiovisual contents On streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime or Max, he explains that “seeing many chapters of coup influences two basic processes on which our memories are built.”

On the one hand, “It affects the memory coding processes that our brain carries out every time you receive new information informationfor the purposes of storing it correctly and being able to recover it later. ” The spectator is delivered to a marathon, Neira concludes that “The connections are weaker and, therefore, it is much easier to forget”.

In addition, he adds, this prevents what psychologists call “Space Memory Effect”. “Those who have tried to prepare an exam the day before in a hurry sure they have been able to verify how memory plays bad passes when it comes to remembering a lot of information that you have stored in a short time,” he exemplifies. This is evidenced by a study by the University of Melbourne held in 2017 with three groups of spectators, which confirmed that those who saw a episode a day or one per week remembered more and better that those who did it in Basto.

From clinical neuropsychology, Juan Luis García FernándezProfessor of the Health Sciences of the UOC and researcher at the Neuroadas Lab Group, confirms that this forgetfulness is not accidental. “It’s not that we have a bad memory, but we are saturating the brain with too much information, without giving it time to process it well.”.

Explain that “For something to be left in the long -term memory, we need to pay attention to it, understand it, relate it to other things of our life and link it to emotional aspects”. But if you consume content in marathon mode or while other tasks are done, “that content is not consolidated in memory, and is quickly forgotten.” Therefore, the necessary involvement in the processing and storage is lost, and “although we have some stored information, we can not recover it correctly. It is a bit like eating very fast without savoring: in the end, you do not remember or what you have eaten,” adds the expert.

The tunnel effect

The second phenomenon, the “Tunnel effect”it has to do with How the platform algorithm conditions what we see. Neira argues that “streaming has originated a new spectator model, active in consumption and liabilities in the choice, despite having absolute freedom to choose.” And it points directly to the role of algorithms: “Algorithmic personalization is still a filter that makes predictions about what he thinks he will like.”

García Fernández explains it from a brain perspective: “The tunnel effect occurs when, when using platforms we always see the same or very similar, without exploring other catalog options”. This responds to a natural trend of the brain to repeat patterns that have already worked: “We seek to see things that we like, and what better way than similar things to those we liked,” he says.

This is reinforced by the reward system: “Being able to have titles or images in front of them that call us active attention the brain reward system, especially a substance called dopamine, which is associated with pleasure and motivation”. In addition, “our selective attention system, mediated by the frontoparietal attention networks, is interfered with by motivation and previous experiences,” and tends to focus “on what he hopes he will like it, and leaves out what he considers irrelevant.” All this, concludes the expert, generates that kind of “vision in tunnel, where we only see a part of the catalog, which the algorithm suggests, but also the one that fits the most with our tastes.”

García Fernández distinguishes between Two types of attention: The one directed by the algorithms (Bottom-Up) and the volunteer (Top-Down). “This type of attention is of Bottom-Up type, that is, of the catalog of titles that we like, seeking, something” highlights “above the rest, a series that we have heard, which we have seen promoted, or whose title or promotion poster we may like, and there we give the play.” Instead, voluntary attention requires effort and activates “When we consciously decided to look for something new, compare options or explore the catalog”.

According to the clinical neuropsychologist, “Cerebral plasticity depends on the things we face and the new learning we have in our lives”. See similar content does not block it completely, but it can limit it: “If everything we see is predictable, adaptation to new challenges and learning is reduced.” And he adds that seeing content outside the comfort zone “also allows activating frontal regions related to critical thinking, learning new information, and even enhancing our cognitive reserve.”

Both experts conclude that “You have to recover control. Space viewing, consciously choose, explore beyond the suggested and comment on what is seen, both experience and cognitive health improve. Because seeing less, and better, it is also a way of resisting. And perhaps, in a year, let’s remember what happened in the previous season, “they suggest.