While pandemic lockdowns have affected various aspects of life, a new study finds that these events have impacted teenage brains as well.
According to Science Alert, that stress that came with having to live through pandemic lockdowns has made the brains of teenagers age more. These reported effects are strikingly similar to those that result from family dysfunctions, neglect, and violence.
Pandemic Lockdowns Sped Up the Aging Process of the Adolescent Brain
The recent study published in the Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science reported that the pandemic accelerated the pace of brain reorganizing, cortex thinning out, and hippocampus and amygdala growth in size.
Science Alert notes that psychologist Ian Gotlib, the Director of SNAP (Stanford Neurodevelopment, Affect, and Psychopathology) expressed how many people already know that the pandemic has led to adverse mental health effects. However, individuals did not know how it affected the adolescent brain physically.
As part of their study, the researchers examined pre-pandemic MRI scans of 81 children that were dated between November 2016 to November 2019. They also studied scans of 82 children that were taken in the course of the pandemic, from October 2020 to March 2022, but also when lockdowns were eased out (Spring of 2020 in California).
The researchers then matched the children from the two groups based on demographics such as age, sex, puberty, early-life stressors, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. This was done to create several points of comparison.
The MRI scans showed that the aging process of the brain seemingly sped up in those belonging to the post-pandemic set. Lockdowns worth less than one year led to around three years' worth of aging among this set of adolescents.
Other Neurological Effects of the Pandemic
Aside from that, mental health was observed to be poorer in the post-pandemic group. However, it is unclear whether these findings are correlated with the aging of the brain.
The study is also incapable of relaying the longevity of these alterations and whether more mental health issues are bound to surface due to the accelerated brain changes in these key areas.
Gotlib brings out the question of whether their chronological age will end up catching up with the age of the brain. He also mentions that outcomes are unclear if the brain stays permanently older compared to the adolescents' chronological age.
The findings of this study may necessitate the correction of other studies of the brain. Other studies may need to consider the aging acceleration of the brain. Adolescents who experienced the pandemic may not have the same neurological state as those who went before them. However, the differences between the two could be subtle.
Plants to Further Study the Long-Term Brain Effects Brought About by the Pandemic
According to Stanford University News, Gotlib plans to follow the exact same adolescents throughout the latter part of their adolescence and into adulthood. He aims to gauge whether the pandemic led to long-term trajectory changes in their brains.
Other than that, he also wants to monitor the mental health of the same adolescents and compare the structure of the brain for those who got with COVID-19 and those who weren't. Gotlib plans to do so to check if there are any significant differences.
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