By skyforbes 
Each swipe delivers a pixelated dopamine hit — but at what cost to our focus and self-control? The Endless Scroll and the Dopamine High
Swipe, laugh, repeat. Short-form videos — those 15–60 second clips on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts — are engineered as bite-sized delights that our brains find hard to resist. Every flick of the thumb brings a fresh jolt of novelty, a quick hit of “feel-good” brain chemical dopamine. “The platform is a ‘dopamine machine,’” warns pediatric neuropsychologist Dr. John Hutton, describing how TikTok’s feed floods the brain’s reward center . Each swipe reinforces cravings “for something enjoyable, whether it’s a tasty meal, a drug or a funny TikTok video,” as Wall Street Journal tech columnist Julie Jargon puts it . In plain terms, our brains learn to love the quick fix.
This cycle of instant gratification taps into an ancient neural pathway designed to reward survival behaviors — food, social connection, novelty. Short videos hack that system brilliantly. Did the last clip not spark joy in the first three seconds? No problem — swipe again and your brain gets a new chance at a dopamine jackpot. “When you see something you don’t like, you can quickly pivot to something that produces more dopamine,” explains neuropsychologist Dr. Sanam Hafeez, describing how the infinite feed trains us to…