A longitudinal study of nearly 996 healthy adults found that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated ageing of their brains.
The resulting paper, “Accelerated brain ageing during the COVID-19 pandemic,” appeared in the Journal Nature Communications on Tuesday
The paper explains that the UK’s Biobank contains longitudinal neuroimaging data describing the brains of over 15,000 Brits, and that scientists have used machine learning and those records to create a brain age prediction model.
A plausible explanation is chronic stress, social isolation, economic insecurity, and health concerns
The University of Nottingham researchers who led the study captured MRI images of 996 people who lived through COVID, applied the model, and estimated each person’s “brain age” — how old their brain appeared to be compared to their actual age.
They found “the pandemic significantly accelerates brain ageing” by an average of 5.5 months. Even those who didn’t catch the virus endured the same outcome. The researchers found more pronounced ageing in males and those from deprived socio-demographic backgrounds.
The researchers aren’t sure why subjects’ brains aged so fast during the pandemic but suggest “A plausible explanation … is chronic stress, potentially linked to pandemic-related factors such as social isolation, economic insecurity, and health concerns.” The paper also notes previous studies that found social isolation and perceived loneliness change the brain in ways felt to drive accelerated brain ageing.
“This study reminds us that brain health is shaped not only by illness, but by our everyday environment,” said Dorothee Auer, Professor of Neuroimaging and senior author on the study. “The pandemic put a strain on people’s lives, especially those already facing disadvantage. We can’t yet test whether the changes we saw will reverse, but it’s certainly possible, and that’s an encouraging thought.”
While brains appear to have aged more quickly during the pandemic, the study found only participants who were infected by COVID-19 between their brain scans showed a drop in certain cognitive abilities, such as mental flexibility and processing speed.
“This suggests that the pandemic’s brain ageing effect, on its own (without infection) may not cause symptoms,” states the University of Nottingham’s summary of the paper.
“Our findings highlight the need to address health and socio-economic inequalities in addition to lifestyle factors to mitigate accelerated brain ageing,” the paper concludes. “Continued research and targeted policies are crucial to improve brain health outcomes in future public health crises.” ®
Source link
