Pandemic's Lasting Impact: Study Finds COVID-19 Accelerated Brain Aging

A recent study has revealed that the experience of living through the COVID-19 pandemic, even for those who never contracted the virus, has been associated with slightly faster brain aging. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, analyzed brain scans from a group of 996 generally healthy participants in the UK Biobank database, comparing scans taken before and after the pandemic began.

The researchers found that the pandemic's cumulative stressors, such as prolonged isolation, disrupted routines, reduced physical and cognitive activity, and economic uncertainty, likely contributed to the observed brain changes. The effect was especially pronounced among older people and men, suggesting a complex model of cognitive decline due to more pronounced accelerated brain aging from infection-related factors in older individuals.

Socioeconomic factors also played a role, with those ranking lower on indicators like income, education, employment, and health access experiencing more pronounced brain aging, likely due to increased exposure to pandemic-related stress and fewer resources to buffer its effects.

While the study did not find immediate decreases in cognitive function for most participants, those who contracted COVID-19 did show small but measurable declines in processing speed and mental flexibility, indicating that even mild infection can leave subtle traces in the brain.