Passengers were seen riding the Staten Island Ferry in New York City on July 30, 2021, during the pandemic, as captured in a photo by Spencer Platt of Getty Images. A new study suggests that brain aging may have accelerated during the pandemic, even in individuals who did not contract Covid-19.
Utilizing brain scans from a large database, researchers from the UK found that people’s brains exhibited signs of aging, including shrinkage, during the pandemic years of 2021 and 2022. The study, published in Nature Communications, revealed that individuals who were infected with the virus also displayed cognitive deficits in processing speed and mental flexibility.
The study’s lead author, Ali-Reza Mohammadi-Nejad, a neuroimaging researcher at the University of Nottingham, stated via email that the aging effect was more noticeable in males and individuals from socioeconomically deprived backgrounds. This underscores the impact of broader life experiences on brain health, in addition to illness.
Overall, the researchers observed a 5.5-month acceleration in brain aging associated with the pandemic. While there was a small difference in brain aging between men and women, suggesting that men may be more affected by certain stressors or health challenges, the exact reasons remain unclear.
The study did not identify specific causes for the observed changes, but the researchers believe that the cumulative effects of the pandemic, such as psychological stress, social isolation, disrupted daily routines, reduced activity, and wellness, likely contributed to the alterations in brain structure and function.
The researchers leveraged data from the UK Biobank, a vast repository of health information from hundreds of thousands of volunteers, to investigate the impact of the pandemic on brain health. By comparing brain imaging data before and during the pandemic years, the researchers were able to quantify the effects of the pandemic on brain aging.
In conclusion, the study highlights the potential long-term consequences of the pandemic on brain health, emphasizing the importance of understanding and addressing the broader impacts of such global events on mental well-being.
The pandemic may have impacted brain aging. Despite the fact that the second scans were performed later during the pandemic, they capture brain changes that likely occurred at the peak of the pandemic, when individuals faced significant disruptions, as noted by Mohammadi-Nejad. Other studies have suggested that environmental factors could lead to premature aging of the brain. For instance, a study in the Antarctic linked living in relative isolation to brain shrinkage. Jacqueline Becker, a clinical neuropsychologist and assistant professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, highlighted the intriguing finding that only those infected with SARS-CoV-2 exhibited cognitive deficits, despite showing signs of structural aging. Becker mentioned that this insight could potentially shed light on conditions like long Covid and chronic fatigue. However, it remains unclear from this study whether the structural brain changes observed in non-Covid individuals will translate into observable changes in brain function, according to Becker. Adam Brickman, a neuropsychology professor at Columbia University, acknowledged the study as a compelling narrative but emphasized that it is still a hypothesis. He pointed out that it is unknown whether the accelerated aging effects observed in non-Covid individuals will have long-term implications. Brickman suggested that adopting healthy habits such as exercise, maintaining optimal blood pressure, ensuring adequate sleep, and engaging in social interactions could potentially counteract any detrimental effects on the brain caused by the pandemic.
