Researchers looked, among other things, at the volume of gray and white brain matter – which are linked to memory and transmission of nerve signals – in 1,000 people during the pandemic. They then compared them with the brains of 15,000 people from before the pandemic.
On average, the brains aged during the pandemic 5.5 months faster than usual – and this applied even if one had not been infected with covid-19. The brain aged the most in men, the elderly, and people from socioeconomically disadvantaged areas.
However, they only saw impaired cognition – the brain's ability to interpret and process information – in those who fell ill with covid-19. This suggests that accelerated brain aging does not always affect cognitive ability negatively, the researchers mean. The result also suggests that lifestyle factors such as physical activity, stress, and social contacts affect the brain's aging.
It is not known whether the changes in the brain returned to normal after the pandemic.
The study is published in Nature Communications.
