The COVID Pandemic May Have Aged Your Brain—Even If You Never Got Sick
Immunologist Zachary Rubin discusses a recent study suggesting that living through the COVID-19 pandemic might accelerate brain aging, even for those who never contracted the virus.
Study Overview
A research team analyzed brain scans from nearly 1,000 healthy adults taken before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their findings revealed a surprising result: individuals experienced signs of accelerated brain aging during the pandemic.
- Their brains appeared approximately five and a half months older than expected based on pre-pandemic trends.
- This suggests that the stress and disruption caused by the pandemic may have left a subtle but measurable impact on brain health.
Methodology
The scientists utilized brain imaging data from the U.K. to compare brain aging trends before and during the pandemic period. This approach allowed them to isolate the effects of living through the pandemic itself, separate from COVID-19 infection.
Zachary Rubin: "Has the pandemic aged your brain? A new study suggests the answer might be yes, even if you never got sick with COVID-19."
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This video is part of “Innovations In: RSV,” an editorially independent special report produced with financial support from MSD, Sanofi, and AstraZeneca.
Author: Zachary Rubin. Edited by Kelso Harper.
Author's summary: The psychological and environmental stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic may have accelerated brain aging in healthy adults, highlighting the pandemic’s subtle yet significant impact on brain health.