The Pandemic May Have Made Your Brain Age Faster — Whether or Not You Got COVID
The study, published by Nature Communications on Tuesday, July 22, found that the time when the COVID-19 pandemic dominated daily life was linked to what appeared to be accelerated brain aging. However, the study emphasized, brain aging isn't necessarily linked to decreased cognitive ability, whereas actually contracting the disease does bear that link.
The study examined nearly 1,000 people's brains and divided them into two groups. The "control group" underwent two MRI scans, both conducted before the pandemic gained traction in early 2020. A second group, named the "pandemic group," did one MRI scan prior to the pandemic and one after the pandemic's initial onset.
Findings from both groups were then compared against an existing set of data featuring over 15,000 healthy participants' imaging. This comparison served to show the gap between predicted brain age (based on the brain's physical state) and chronological age (based on the participant's real age).
Researchers found that even in subjects' brains that bore virtually no difference between predicted and chronological brain age, after the pandemic, the gap increased — regardless of COVID-19 infection. The average gap increase was 5.5 months, which was deemed statistically significant.
Participants averaged an age of 63 and did not have any significant chronic conditions, "to maintain consistency in health status across all subjects," the study read. The study found that those most significantly affected by the pandemic in terms of brain age were men and elderly people, especially those who are at a socioeconomic disadvantage.
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However, a large brain age gap isn't necessarily linked to cognitive decline, the study found — marks of impacted cognitive ability were found only in participants who were infected.
"Our study highlights the pandemic's significant impact on brain health, beyond direct infection effects, emphasising the need to consider broader social and health inequalities," the study stated.
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