Mentalist Torrent Exclusive -

When an individual experiences high cognitive load (multitasking, fatigue), their Default Mode Network (DMN)—responsible for self-referential thought and reality testing—suppresses. In this state, the individual becomes a passive recipient of the MT, accepting incoming mental states as their own. This explains "doomscrolling": the inability to disengage from a negative torrent, as one’s own DMN is temporarily hijacked.

The Mentalist Torrent: Toward a Framework for Uncontrolled Cognitive Propagation in the Digital Age mentalist torrent

Hatfield and Rapson's (1994) work on emotional contagion described primitive synchronization in face-to-face settings. MT accelerates this via asynchronous digital media. A 2022 study on Twitter (X) retweet patterns showed that emotional valence (positive/negative) spreads three times faster than neutral content, but emotional intensity spreads ten times faster. This intensity is the "current" of the torrent. The Mentalist Torrent: Toward a Framework for Uncontrolled

Traditional communication relies on the "linguistic bottleneck"—converting thought to language, transmitting it, and having the listener decode it via the prefrontal cortex (reasoning). MT operates via the limbic system. When a user scrolls through a torrent of outrage or joy, their amygdala (emotion) and insula (interoception) activate before the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (executive function) can intervene. This is pre-cognitive contagion . This intensity is the "current" of the torrent